/ 

\jCiS2/ 


TO  HIS  HOLINESS    POPE  LEO  XIII. 


HOLY  FATHER  :  —  It  is  with  great  grief  and 
regret  that  I  address  this  letter  to  your  Holiness. 
I  am  obliged  to  resign  into  your  hands  the  Office 
to  which  you  were  pleased  to  appoint  me,  and  to 
leave  to  others  the  work  of  the  Order  of  Peace 
which  your  Holiness  has  authorized  me  to  estab- 
lish. 

I  have  not  taken  this  step  without  long  and 
careful  consideration,  for  I  see  every  day  more  and 
more  the  necessity  of  such  work  as  this  for  Work- 
ing Girls.  They  have  been  indeed  the  great  sup- 
port of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  they 
deserve  all  that  can  be  done  for  their  comfort  and 
encouragement. 

But  I  have  found  such  opposition  to  this  work, 
which  I  so  dearly  love,  from  certain  bishops  whose 
influence  is  so  powerful  that  other  bishops  do 
not  like  to  support  what  they  disapprove,  even 
though  it  has  the  sanction  of  your  Holiness,  that  I 
am  obliged  to  retire  from  it.  My  health,  always 


iv  LETTER    TO  POPE  LEO  XIIl. 

delicate,  has  completely  given  way  under  the  press- 
ure and  pain  of  this  discouragement.  I  have  in 
vain  pointed  out  to  these  ecclesiastics  that  the  fact 
of  your  Holiness  having  permitted  me  to  establish 
a  New  Order  should  have  satisfied  them  that  I 
was,  as  the  document  sent  from  Propaganda  to  the 
Right  Rev.  Bishop  Bagshawe  said,  "  worthy  of 
confidence  and  trust."  This  document  says,  "  I 
may  assure  your  lordship  that  due  notice,  acknowl- 
edgment, and  consideration  has  been  taken  of 
whatever  has  been  written  or  sent  to  Propaganda, 
and  nothing  was  found  to  prevent  the  Cardinal 
Prefect  from  recommending  her  (Sister  M.  Fran- 
cis Clare)  to  the  Holy  Father,  not  only  to  dispense 
her  from  belonging  to  the  Poor  Clares,  but  to  give 
her  that  dispensation  to  establish  and  direct  a  new 
congregation  under  your  lordship.  That  very  fact 
is  an  evident  testimony  of  the  judgment  passed  in 
Propaganda  that  she  is  worthy  of  your  lordship's 
confidence  and  trust,  and  that  of  any  one  who  may 
put  herself  under  her  guidance." 

Notwithstanding  the  above,  reports  are  circu- 
lated both  by  ecclesiastics  and  in  the  public  press 
under  the  control  of  ecclesiastics,  making  false 
charges  against  me  ever  since  I  came  to  this 
country,  which  are  most  defamatory  to  me  as  a 


LETTER    TO  POPE   LEO  XIII.  v 

religious ;  and  what  is  far  more  disedifying,  these 
charges  against  me  reflect  on  the  wisdom  and 
prudence  of  your  Holiness  in  appointing  me  to 
such  an  Office,  and  on  the  judgment  of  the  Sacred 
College  of  Propaganda,  as  they  are  circulating, 
both  in  public  and  in  private,  the  very  charges 
against  me  which  Propaganda  has  declared,  after 
a  careful  judicial  inquiry,  to  be  false. 

I  am  now  publishing  in  a  volume  an  account  of 
my  life.  The  facts  and  documents  which  I  shall 
print  will  show  how  groundless  are  the  charges 
which  have  been  made  against  me  by  these  influ- 
ential ecclesiastics,  and  will  show  that  I  was  not 
unworthy  of  the  honorable  position  to  which  your 
Holiness  appointed  me.  If  in  this  publication 
certain  bishops  shall  be  seen  to  have  thrown  ob- 
stacles in  the  way  of  the  work  which  your  Holi- 
ness committed  to  me,  by  speaking  of  me  as  if  I 
were  an  unworthy  sister,  your  Holiness  will  be 
pleased  to  remember  that  before  publishing  these 
documents  I  gave  them  many  opportunities  of 
clearing  me,  publicly  or  privately,  of  their  false 
charges,  and  even  in  such  a  manner  that  it  might 
not  appear  that  they  were  the  authors  of  them. 
It  will  be  seen,  indeed,  that  I  have  treated  them 
with  every  consideration  and  patience. 


vi  LETTER    TO  POPE  LEO  XIII. 

I  have  now,  Holy  Father,  to  express  to  you  my 
highest  respect  and  my  deepest  gratitude.  The 
memory  of  your  kindness  will  remain  with  me  to 
my  dying  hour. 

With  regard  to  the  sisters  who  have  been  asso- 
ciated with  me  in  this  work,  I  am  certain  that  no 
ecclesiastic  can  say  anything  but  good  of  them. 
Holy  Father,  take  these  good  sisters,  whom  I 
have  so  long  loved  and  cherished  and  trained  for 
this  work,  to  your  heart.  Be  assured  that  I  will 
altogether  keep  from  them,  and  shall  not  give  a 
pretext  to  any  ecclesiastic  for  any  opposition  to 
them  on  my  account.  They  certainly  cannot  be 
held  responsible  for  my  supposed  faults,  and  I 
will  be  as  one  who  does  not  exist,  as  far  as  they 
are  concerned.  God  alone  knows  what  this  sacri- 
fice will  cost  me,  but  I  make  it  willingly,  as  I  see 
that  it  is  the  only  way  to  secure  permanence  and 
prosperity  to  this  work. 

As  during  the  thirty  years  which  I  have  served 
the  church  as  a  sister  I  have  always  acted  in 
strict  obedience  to  canonical  rule  and  observance, 
I  have  sent  in  my  resignation  to  the  Right  Rev. 
Bishop  Bagshawe  and  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Wig- 
ger.  The  former,  in  his  reply  to  me,  expresses 
his  deep  regret  that  my  state  of  health  obliges 


LETTER    TO  POPE  LEO  XIII.  vii 

him  to  accept  my  resignation,  and  his  sense  of  the 
great  value  of  the  work  done  by  the  Sisters  of 
Peace  in  his  diocese. 

I    beg   to    subscribe    myself,  with    the    highest 
respect,  your  Holiness's  most  grateful, 

SISTER  M.  FRANCIS  CLARE  CUSACK. 

Late  Mother  General  of  the  Sisters  of  Peace, 


FROM  THE 

APOLOGIA   PRO  VITA   SUA. 


BY  CARDINAL  NEWMAN. 


"  FOR  twenty  years  or  more  I  have  borne  an  im- 
putation, of  which  I  am  at  least  as  sensitive,  who 
am  the  object  of  it,  as  they  can  be  who  are  only 
the  judges.  I  have  not  set  myself  to  remove  it, 
first,  because  I  never  have  had  an  opening  to  speak, 
and,  next,  because  I  never  saw  in  them  the  dispo- 
sition to  hear.  I  have  wished  to  appeal  from 
Philip  drunk  to  Philip  sober.  When  shall  I  pro- 
nounce him  to  be  himself  again  ? 

"  Whatever  judgment  my  readers  may  eventu- 
ally form  of  me  from  these  pages,  I  am  confident 
that  they  will  believe  me  in  what  I  shall  say  in 
the  course  of  them.  I  have  no  misgiving  at  all  that 
they  will  be  ungenerous  or  harsh  towards  a  man 
who  has  been  so  long  before  the  eyes  of  the  world  ; 
who  has  so  many  to  speak  of  him  from  personal 
knowledge ;  whose  natural  impulse  it  has  ever 
been  to  speak  out ;  who  has  ever  spoken  too  much 
rather  than  too  little  ;  who  would  have  saved  him- 
viii 


FROM   THE  APOLOGIA   PRO    VITA   SUA.         ix 

self  many  a  scrape  if  he  had  been  wise  enough  to 
hold  his  tongue  ;  who  has  ever  been  fair  to  the 
doctrines  and  arguments  of  his  opponents  ;  who 
has  never  slurred  over  facts  and  reasonings  which 
told  against  himself ;  who  has  never  given  his 
name  or  authority  to  proofs  which  he  thought 
unsound,  or  to  testimony  which  he  did  not  think 
at  least  plausible  ;  who  has  never  shrunk  from 
confessing  a  fault  when  he  felt  that  he  had  com- 
mitted one  ;  who  has  ever  consulted  for  others 
more  than  for  himself ;  who  has  given  up  much 
that  he  loved  and  prized,  and  could  have  retained, 
but  that  he  loved  honesty  better  than  name,  and 
truth  better  than  dear  friends. 

"  Moreover,  I  mean  to  be  simply  personal  and 
historical  :  I  am  not  expounding  Catholic  doc- 
trine ;  I  am  doing  no  more  than  explaining 
myself  and  my  opinions  and  actions.  I  wish,  as 
far  as  I  am  able,  simply  to  state  facts,  whether 
they  are  ultimately  determined  to  be  for  me  or 
against  me.  Of  course  there  will  be  room  enough 
for  contrariety  of  judgment  among  my  readers,  as 
to  the  necessity,  or  appositeness,  or  value,  or  good 
taste,  or  religious  prudence,  of  the  details  which 
I  shall  introduce.  I  may  be  accused  of  laying 
stress  on  little  things,  of  being  beside  the  mark, 
of  going  into  impertinent  or  ridiculous  details,  of 
sounding  my  own  praise,  of  giving  scandal ;  but 


x  FROM  THE  APOLOGIA  PRO  VITA  SUA. 

this  is  a  case  above  all  others  in  which  I  am  bound 
to  follow  my  own  lights  and  to  speak  out  my  own 
heart.  It  is  not  at  all  pleasant  for  me  to  be  ego- 
tistical ;  nor  to  be  criticised  for  being  so.  It  is  not 
pleasant  to  reveal  to  high  and  low,  young  and  old, 
what  has  gone  on  within  me  from  my  early  years. 
It  is  not  pleasant  to  be  giving  to  every  shallow 
or  flippant  disputant  the  advantage  over  me  of 
knowing  my  most  private  thoughts,  I  might  even 
say  the  intercourse  between  myself  and  my  Maker. 
But  I  do  not  like  to  be  called  to  my  face  a  liar  and 
a  knave;  nor  should  I  be  doing  my  duty  to  my 
faith  or  to  my  name  if  I  were  to  surfer  it.  I  know 
I  have  done  nothing  to  deserve  such  an  insult,  and 
if  I  prove  this,  as  I  hope  to  do,  I  must  not  care  for 
such  incidental  annoyances  as  are  involved  in  the 
process." 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

WHY   THIS   BOOK  WAS   WRITTEN. 

The  Immediate  Cause  of  my  Giving  up  the  Work  which  the  Holy  Father 
Authorized  me  to  do  —  Constant  and  Irritating  Interference  on  the 
Part  of  Archbishop  Corrigan  —  I  am  Required  to  Apologize  for 
what  I  did  not  do,  and  when  my  Apology  is  Offered,  it  is  not 
Accepted i 

CHAPTER   II. 

MY   RECEPTION   INTO   THE   ROMAN   CATHOLIC 
CHURCH. 

First  Leanings  towards  Catholicism  —  Acquaintance  with  Dr.  Pusey  — 
Entering  the  Anglican  Sisterhood  —  Miss  Langston  —  The  Crimean 
War  —  Confirmation  by  Cardinal  Wiseman  —  He  Requests  me  to  De- 
vote my  Life  to  Literature —  Rev.  Father  Whitty,  Miss  Whitty,  and 
the  Sisters  of  Mercy  —  The  Sisters'  Call —  Opposition  of  the  Arch- 
bishop   u 

CHAPTER   III. 

LIFE  AT   NEWRY. 

Desire  to  Work  for  the  Poor  —  Cardinal  Newman's  Apologia  —  The  Bishop 
and  Cardinal  Antonelli  —  The  French  Governess  —  Journey  to  Newry 
—  Miss  O'Hagan  —  Her  Character  and  History — Entrance  to  the  Con- 
vent —  Life  at  Newry  —  Taking  the  Habit  —  My  Health  —  History  of 
the  Poor  Clares  —  Trials  of  Religious  Houses — Estrangement  from 
Relatives  —  Literary  Work  —  Trouble  over  my  Publications  —  A  Jeal- 
ous Priest  and  a  Dedication  —  My  Book  "  Pirated  v  by  a  New  York 
Priest — Building  Operations  and  Money  Troubles —  The  Bishop  In- 
terferes. —  A  Momentous  Visit  is  Paid  us 25 

xi 


xii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   IV. 

GOING  TO   KENMARE. 

Archdeacon  O'Sullivan  Desires  a  Foundation  at  Kenmare — His  Noble 
Character — The  Kenmare  Sisters — Miss  O'Hagan  Undertakes  the 
Foundation — Dr.  Moriarty,  the  New  Bishop  —  Lord  and  Lady  Ken- 
mare—  The  Bishop's  Mistake  —  Status  of  Priests  in  Ireland  —  Ex- 
posed to  Social  and  Political  Seductions  —  Bishop  Moriarty  Won  Over 
—  Life  at  Kenmare  —  Choir  and  Lay  Sisters  —  Unfortunate  Selection 
of  New  Sisters  —  My  Literary  Work  Continues 49 

CHAPTER   V. 

MY   LITERARY    WORK   AT   KENMARE. 

Success  of  my  Books  —  Blamed  for  Writing  Them  —  Illiberal  Criticisms  — 
Causes  of  Trouble  in  the  Church  —  Unjust  Interference  of  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Dublin  —  Letter  from  Bishop  Moriarty  —  His  Approval  of 
my  Literary  Work 64 

CHAPTER   VI. 

THE  FAMINE  YEAR  IN  IRELAND. 

Chronic  Distress  in  Ireland  —  Favor  of  the  Holy  See  for  England  —  At- 
tacked for  my  Historical  Writings  —  State  of  the  Irish  people  —  Rela- 
tions between  Irish  and  English  Catholics —  the  Catholics  the  Oppres- 
sors of  Ireland  —  Dr.  McCarthy,  His  Character  —  Lord  Lans- 
downe's  Attitude  —  Attacked  by  Rev.  Mr.  Angus  —  Appeal  to 
Cardinal  Manning  —  Letter  from  Archdeacon  O'Sullivan  —  Two 
Archdeacons  O'Sullivan  —  A  Curious  Episode  —  Mr.  Angus  contin- 
ues his  Attacks  —  He  is  Silenced  by  Legal  Proceedings  —  The  Morn- 
ing Post  Apologizes  —  My  Labors  in  the  Famine  Year  —  Distress  of 
the  Poor — Indian  Meal  for  a  Family  of  Five  —  Letter  from  W.  J. 
Sullivan  to  the/7 reemari1  s  Journal 70 

CHAPTER   VII. 

THE   NUN   OF   KENMARE'S   DISTRESS   FUND. 

The  Nun  of  Kenmare's  Distress  Fund — Object  of  the  Fund — Methods 
of  Relief  —  Letters  from  Mr.  O'Connell,  Rev.  C.  O'Sullivan,  from 


CONTENTS.  xijj 

Protestant  Clergymen,  and  Others  —  Appeals  and  Thanks  from  Con- 
vents—  A  Threatening  Letter  —  Appeal  to  Chief  Secretary  Foster  — 
His  Reply  —  Indignation  Meeting  at  Kenmare  —  Remarks  of  Ven. 
Archdeacon  O'Sullivan,  Rev.  J.  Molineux,  Mr.  Fitzgerald,  Mr.  Har- 
rington, and  Others 91 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

MONEY   MATTERS. 

Money  Left  at  Kenmare — I  Send  for  it  from  Knock  —  It  is   Refused 

—  Bishop  Higgins  Interferes  —  Illegal  Claims  of  the  Kenmare  Sisters 

—  Bishop  Higgins  Afraid  of  the  Secular  Courts  —  His  Opinion  of 
"  Heretical  Laws  "  —  An  Unfair  Decision  —  Letters  and  Comments 
on  the  Case 128 

CHAPTER   IX. 

BISHOP  HIGGINS'S  TREATMENT   OF  SISTERS  AND 
PRIESTS. 

Changes  at  Kenmare  —  Death  of  Father  John —  Of  Miss  O'Hagan  — 
Interference  of  Father  Higgins  —  Ill-treatment  by  the  Sisters  — 
Bishop  Higgins's  Arbitrary  Management  —  I  am  Boycotted  by  Him 

—  Loss  of  Money  —  Other  Sisters  Oppressed  by  Bishop  Higgins  — 
The  Saurin  Case  —  A  New  York  Case  —  A  Sane  Sister  Sent  to  Black- 
well's  Island  —  Her  Rescue 138 

CHAPTER    X. 

LEAVING   KENMARE. 

I  Leave  Kenmare— Rev.  M.  Neligan  Accompanies  me  on  my  Way  to 
Knock  —  Accused  of  Going  Without  Leave — The  Presentation  Sis- 
ters at  Killarney — Presentation  Convent,  Portarlington  —  Clare- 
morris —  Rev.  Canon"  Bourke — My  Journey  Continued — Wretched 
Conveyances  —  I  am  Seriously  111 177 

CHAPTER   XL 

VISIT   TO   KNOCK. 

Arrival  at  Knock  —  Welcomed  by  Archdeacon  Cavanagh  —  Prayer  on  the 
Scene  of  the  Apparition — A  Miraculous  Restoration  —  Requested 
to  Found  a  Convent  at  Knock  —  Lettersfrom  Dr.  McEvilly,  Arch- 


xiv  CONTENTS. 

bishop  of  Tuani,  and  Father  Cavanagh  —  Care  in  Getting  Permis- 
sions—  Visit  to  Tuam —  Reception  by  the  Archbishop  —  He  Writes 
a  letter  of  Approval  —  Comments  on  the  Archbishop's  Letter  —  Letter 
to  Bishop  Higgins  —  His  Reply  —  Change  of  Ground  by  the  Arch- 
bishop —  His  Inexplicable  Anger  —  Injustice  of  Catholic  Methods  of 
Discipline  —  Opinion  o£  the  Late  Bishop  of  Cavan— The  Harold's 
Cross  Convent  —  Its  History  and  Peculiarities — Cordial  Reception 
at  Newry  —  Bishop  Leahy's  Letter  —  Return  to  Dublin  —  Astonish- 
ing Reception  at  Harold's  Cross — Forbidden  Shelter  by  Cardinal 
McCabe  —  Turned  into  the  Winter  Streets  by  his  Order  —  Popular 
Hatred  of  Cardinal  McCabe  —  Why  was  I  so  Treated  —  A  Dark 
Mystery  —  Remarkable  Letter  from  Bishop  Higgins  ....  185 

CHAPTER   XII. 

WAITING  FOR  PERMISSION  TO  RETURN  TO  TUAM. 

Abandoned  by  my  Friends  —  Miss  O'Hagan's  Relatives  Desert  me  — 
A  Gleam  of  Sunshine  —  I  Seek  Refuge  —  A  Grateful  Cabman  —  A 
Serious  Difficulty  —  I  Write  to  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam  —  A  Forged 
Despatch — Duplicity  of  the  Kenmare  Sisters  —  Bishop  Higgins's 
Vacillations  —  Contrasted  Extracts  from  his  Letters  .  .  .  .  217 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

DEPRIVED  OF  THE  SACRAMENTS  WITHOUT  CAUSE. 

Permitted  to  Return  to  Knock  —  Unjust  Treatment  by  Archbishop  Mc- 
Evilly  —  Ingratitude  of  a  Sister  —  Commissioned  to  Hunt  me  Down 

—  A  Hard  Winter  —  A  Sad  Christmas  —  Forbidden  the  Sacraments 

—  Archdeacon  Cavanagh  Dares  not  Confess  me  —  I  Appeal  to  Bishop 
Leahy  —  His    Response  —  Archbishop    McEvilly    Consents    "  For 
Once,"  and  Sends  me  to  Claremorris  —A  Little  Consolation  .     .     226 

CHAPTER    XIV. 

CLAREMORRIS. 

I  Move  to  Claremorris  —  Plans  for  the  Endowment  at  Knock  —  Girls  to 
be  Taught  Household  Industries  —  State  of  Ireland — Absence  of 
Industrial  Employment  —  Theoretical  Training  Useless  —  Methods 
of  the  Training  Houses  —  Houses  to  be  Self-Supporting  —  Cordial 


CONTENTS.  xv 

Letter  from  John  Kelly  —  Industries  Practised — The  Kindergarten 

—  Archbishop  McEvilly's  Requirements  —  Father  Cavanagh  Afraid 
of  the  Archbishop  —  Different  Orders  of  the  Church  —  Idea  of  a  New 
Order 237 

CHAPTER   XV. 

CLAREMORRIS   CONTINUED. 

Correspondence  and  Labors  —  Letter  from  Rev.  Dr.  Croke,  Archbishop 
of  Cashel  —  Fresh  Attacks  from  Mr.  Angus  and  an  Anonymous 
"  Bishop  "  —  Bishop  Higgins  Compelled  to  tell  the  Truth  —  Father 
Cavanagh  Begins  to  Change  —  Advised  by  Archbishop  Croke  to  Pub- 
lish my  Letters  and  Documents  —  The  Anonymous  Bishop  Continues 

—  I  Write  to  the  Weekly  Register  —  Letters  from  Archbishop  Cava- 
nagh and  Bishop  McCormack 256 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

KNOCK. 

I   Go   to   Knock  — Sister   M.  —  Her   Peculiarities  —  Living  in  a  Stable 

—  Neither  Food  nor  Bedding  —  A  Serious  Illness  —  A  Nurse  who 
wanted    Rich   Patients  —  I    Receive    Permission    to    Build  —  The 
Ground  Selected  —  Leased  from  Lord  Dillon  —  Mr.  Hague  Chosen 
as  the  Architect  —  We  Rent  a  House  —  Trouble  with  our  Landlord  — 
Improper  Behavior  by  his  Family  —  The  Work   Interfered  with  — 
Workmen  Enticed  to  Drink  —  I  Send  for  my  Solicitor  —  Father  J.  — 
A   Quarrelsome    Curate  —  His    Abusive    Conduct  —  Interference  of 
Sister    M.— Her    Complaints  —  I  Ask   for  a  Visitation  —  Refused 
by  the  Archbishop 268 

CHAPTER   XVII. 

MORE   DIFFICULTIES    AT   KNOCK. 

Archbishop  McEvilly's  Contradictions  —  Canon  Bourke  —  I  Stop  the 
Works  —  Father  Cavanagh  Claims  my  Funds  —  Visit  from  Rev. 
Dr.  Lynch,  Archbishop  of  Toronto  —  His  Approval  —  His  Letter 
to  his  Coadjutor  Bishop —  Appeals  to  Continue  the  Work  — 
Obstinacy  of  Archdeacon  Cavanagh  —  A  Pretended  Miracle  — 
The  Deaf  and  Dumb  Impostor  —  Letter  from  Canon  Bourke  — • 
Dr.  McEvilly's  Excuse  —  Sister  M makes  Trouble  .  .  285 


xvi  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   XVIII. 

KNOCK     CONTINUED. 

A  Pilgrim's  House  Needed —  Miserable  Condition  of  the  Place  —  A  Retreat 
from  Rev.  Father  Gaffney,  S.  J.  —  His  Distress  —  I  Ask  Leave  to  go 
to  Rome  — Am  Refused — I  go  to  Dublin  —  Father  Gaffney  Brings  a 
Document  from  the  Archbishop  —  An  Extraordinary  Demand  —  To 
be  Signed  Unread  —  My  Refusal  —  My  Health  Failing — I  Ask 
Leave  to  go  to  England  to  see  Cardinal  Manning  —  Leave 
Granted  . 298 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

I   GO   TO   ENGLAND. 

I  Reach  London  —  Visit  to  Cardinal  Manning  —  His  Cordial  Reception  — 
Call  on  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Bagshawe  —  Transferred  by  the  Archbishop  of 
Tuam  —  Father  Cavanagh's  Dislike  to  my  Work  —  Nature  of  my 
schools  —  An  Incapable  Teacher  —  Knock  Schools  —  A  Letter  — 
Petition  to  the  Archbishop  —  Letters  from  Michael  M.  Waldron, 
Canon  Bourke,  James  Rogers,  and  others 313 

CHAPTER    XX. 

GOING   TO    ROME. 

The  New  Order  Approved  by  Cardinal  Manning  and  Bishop  Bagshawe  — 
Character  of  the  Order —  Sent  on  a  New  Mission  —  An  Undesirable 
Priest  —  Preparations  for  Rome  —  I  Stay  at  Lourdes  —  Another 
"  Knock  "  —  A  Broken-Hearted  Priest  —  The  Shrine  of  the  Sacred 
Heart  —  Paray-le-Monial  —  Kind  Reception  in  Rome  —  A  Visit  from 
Cardinal  Howard — In  Charge  of  Mgr.  Gualdi  —  Absurd  Espionage  — 
Favors  in  Rome  —  I  see  Mgr.  Macchi  —  Public  and  Private  Audience 
with  the  Holy  Father  —  His  Holiness  Recognizes  the  Life  of  O'Connell 
—  He  Approves  my  Plan  and  my  Writing  —  Letter  from  Father  Gaff- 
ney, S.  J 354 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

GOING  TO   AMERICA. 

America  Proposed  —  Bishop  Bagshawe  —  His  Character  —  Intrigues  of 
English  Catholics  —  Wealth  of  the  American  Catholic  Church  —  Arch- 


CONTENTS.  xvii 

Bishop  Corrigan  Calls  for  $400.000  —  My  Plans  Approved  —  The 
Journey  Ordered  —  Canon  Monaghan  Accompanies  Me  —  Cardinal 
Manning's  Friendship  —  Parting  from  my  Sisters  —  Mother  Mary 
Evangelista  .  • 377 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

ARRIVAL  IN  NEW   YORK. 

Refused  an  Interview  by  Cardinal  McClosky  and  Bishop  Corrigan  —  Inex- 
cusable Discourtesy  —  Comment  of  Mgr.  Capel  —  Word  of  Avoidance 
Passed  Around  —  Opposed  by  Mgr.  Quinn  —  Letter  to  Cardinal  Mc- 
Closky —  Circular  in  Aid  of  Immigrants —  Miss  Charlotte  O'Brien  — 
The  Bishop  of  Cloyne  —  His  Interest  —  Forbidden  to  Work  at  Castle 
Garden  —  Father  Riordan's  Mission  there  .  ,  -188 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

GOOD     WORKS     THAT    HAVE    NOT    BEEN    ACCOM- 
PLISHED. 

Mission  of  the  Church  —  Sisterhoods  Often  Opposed  —  Catholic  Perse- 
cution of  her  own  Saints  —  Oppressed  when  Living  —  Canonized  when 
Dead  —  La  Salle  an  Example  —  The  Church  Afraid  to  let  the  Truth 
be  Known  —  The  Poor  Neglected  —  Priests  Suppressed  —  Established 
in  Jersey  City  —  Rude  Treatment  in  Philadelphia  —  Project  for  Blind 
Asylum  Abandoned 404 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

WHO   IS   ACCOUNTABLE? 

A  Sorrowful  Record  —  Dependence  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  upon 
the  Liquor  Interest  —  Received  Kindly  by  Cardinal  Gibbons  at  First 
—  Father  Didier's  Home  for  Girls — Invited  to  take  the  Manage- 
ment of  it  —  Plan  Defeated  by  the  Interference  of  Some  Priest  — 
Offered  a  Summer  Home  Near  Baltimore  —  The  Priest  Very  Anx- 
ious that  I  should  Accept  It.  —  Cardinal  Gibbons  Forbids  it  Under 
the  Influence  of  Other  Ecclesiastics  —  Invited  to  Visit  Mother 


ii  CONTENTS. 

D 's   Convent   for   my  Health  —  Archbishop   Corrigan   Sends   a 

Lady  to  Her  to  Express  His  Strong  Feeling  Against  Me,  and  to 
Desire  Me  to  Leave — Asked  to  Found  a  Home  in  Cleveland  O. — 
Forbidden  by  the  Archbishop  —  Asked  to  make  Foundations  in 
Tacoma  W.  T.  —  Suddenly  Forbidden,  after  all  Arrangements  had 
been  Made  —  Offered  a  Home  for  Girls  in  St.  Pauls,  Minn.  —  Urgent 
Need  for  this  Work  there,  but  Father  Shanly  Forbids  it,  and  makes 
a  Gross  Attack  on  Me  in  the  Public  Press  —  Without  any  Expression 
of  Disapprobation  from  his  Bishop ....  426 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

MY   ONLY   INTERVIEW   WITH   ARCHBISHOP 
CORRIGAN. 

Discourtesy  of  Archbishop  Corrigan  —  He  Wishes  to  see  Me  —  His 
Charges  Against  Me  —  A  Not  Forthcoming  Letter  —  Priestly  Dif- 
ferences —  A  Poor  Compliment  to  the  Holy  Father 463 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 

CONCLUDING   SCENES. 

The  End  of  All  —  Other  Sisters  Deprived  — Case  of  Miss  K.—  The  Girls' 
Home  in  Baltimore  —Visit  to  the  South  —  Incivility  of  a  Southern 
Bishop  —  Application  to  Archbishop  Keane  —  Contrasted  Letter 
from  Archbishop  Bagshawe  and  Archbishop  Keane 472 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE   END. 

A  Weary  Task  —  No  Justice  to  be  Had  —  Church  Regulations  —  An 
Easily  Offended  Priest — A  New  Libel  Manufactured  —  An  Adven- 
turess and  a  Thief  —  Father  C n  as  Protector  —  Other  Misrepre- 
sentations   483 


CONTENTS.  xix 

APPENDIX. 
LETTERS  AND   DOCUMENTS. 

PART  I. 
Papal  approbations  and  briefs 497 

PART   II. 

Letters  of  Archbishop  Croke  and  others  endorsing  Sister  Mary 
Francis  Clare's  conduct,  and  advising  publication  of  the  letters 
showing  that  she  had  the  usual  canonical  authorizations  for 
her  removal  from  Kenmare 501 

PART   III. 
Bishop  Wigger's  letters  of  approval- 506 

PART   IV. 

Copies  of  letters  addressed  by  Sister  M.  Francis  Clare  to  Arch- 
bishop Corrigan,  asking  him  to  investigate  the  charges  which 
some  of  his  priests  were  constantly  making  against  her  .  .  .  507 

PART   V. 

General  letters.  Copy  of  letter  addressed  by  the  sisters  to  Bishop 
Keane,  now  the  Rector  of  the  new  Roman  Catholic  University 
at  Washington.  Specimens  of  attacks  made  on  Sister  M.  Fran- 
cis Clare  by  priests  514 

PART   VI. 
The  troubled  life  of  the  foundress  of  the  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame  .    .     531 

PART   VII. 
Extracts  from  letters  from  the  sisters  to  Sister  M.  Francis  Clare      .     536 

PART  VIII. 
List  of  Works 548 


"  Publish  a  short  account  of  your  departure  from 
Kenmare,  showing  you  had  full  leave."  —  Letter  from 
Most  Rev.  Dr.  Croke,  Archbishop  of  Cashel. 

"  The  American  people  are  anxious  to  know  why  you 
•left  Knock.  Tell  the  truth  —  that  would  bring  about 
the  necessity  of  giving  you  and  your  spiritual  children 
that  convent  back,  which  Americans  and  others  have 
founded." — Letter  from  Very  Rev.  Canon  Ulick  Burke, 
P.  P.,  Claremorris,  Ireland. 

"  Publish  a  sober  statement  of  your  case.  Keep 
quiet  until  you  can  say  all."  —  Letter  from  Very  Rev. 
Father  Porter,  S.  J.,  of  London,  England;  now  Right 
Rev.  Archbishop  Porter. 


THE   NUN   OF   KENMARE. 


CHAPTER   I. 

WHY  THIS   BOOK  WAS   WRITTEN. 

The  Immediate  Cause  of  my  Giving  up  the  Work  which  the  Holy  Father 
Authorized  me  to  do  —  Constant  and  Irritating  Interference  on  the 
Part  of  Archbishop  Corrigan  —  I  am  Required  to  Apologize  for  what 
I  did  not  do,  and  when  my  Apology  is  Offered,  it  is  not  Accepted. 

THE  writing  of  this  book  has  been  a  subject  of 
long  and  serious  consideration.  I  am  not  ignorant 
of  the  very  grave  issues  which  it  involves  ;  they 
are  serious  to  myself,  and  they  are  serious  to  men 
of  very  high  position,  whose  actions  are  herein 
detailed. 

Though  the  recent  circumstances  which  have 
led  me  to  a  final  decision  belong  properly  to  a 
later  part  of  the  present  narrative,  I  think  it  will 
simplify  matters  if  I  state  them  here  briefly. 

I  have  written  this  work,  because  I  know  that  I 
owe  an  explanation  to  the  many  thousands  who 
have  contributed,  not  out  of  their  wealth,  but  out 
of  their  poverty,  to  the  good  work  which  I  tried  to 
establish  in  Kenmare,  in  Knock,  and  in  America. 


2  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE, 

Further,  when  I  was  advised  by  my  ecclesiastical 
superior,  Bishop  Bagshawe,  to  go  to  Rome,  I  was 
obliged  to  make  a  public  appeal  for  the  pecuniary 
help  which  was  necessary  to  enable  me  to  make 
the  journey ;  because  when  I  left  Knock  with  the 
sisters  who  accompanied  me  to  England,  I  had  no 
money,  except  a  few  thousand  dollars  which  were 
invested  for  the  support  of  the  sisters,  and  which 
could  not  be  used  for  any  other  purpose ;  though 
even  this  was  claimed  by  Archdeacon  Cavanagh 
for  himself,  as  his  letters  given  later  will  show. 
All  the  money  which  I  had  collected  for  the 
Knock  Convent  and  Industrial  Training  School 
was  expended,  and  I  have  the  receipts  of  the 
builders  and  architect  to  show  how  it  was  spent. 

I  received  a  most  generous  response  to  my 
appeal  for  my  expenses  to  Rome,  and  for  those  of 
the  sister  who  accompanied  me.  These  expenses 
were  necessarily  considerable,  as  I  had  to  remain 
in  Rome  for  four  months  while  my  case  was 
under  consideration. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  affection  shown  to  me  by 
many  of  the  contributors,  who  begged  me  to  write 
to  them  for  more,  if  I  needed  it,  and  not  to  spare 
expense  when  it  would  save  me  fatigue,  or  procure 
any  alleviation  of  the  sufferings  which  such  a 
journey  must  cause  to  one  in  my  weak  state  of 
health.  •••  ••• 


ARCHDEACON  CAVANAGH  INTERFERES.        3 

I  feel  it  is  right  that  those  who  contributed  to 
the  Knock  Industrial  School  and  to  my  expenses 
to  Rome,  should  know  why,  and  how,  their  benev- 
olent desires  have  been  defeated,  and  their  sacri- 
fices rendered  of  no  avail.  My  letter  to  the  Holy 
Father  at  the  beginning  of  this  book  explains  why 
I  have  kept  silence  so  long,  and  why  I  took  blame 
to  myself  to  screen  others.  Those  who  so  unself- 
ishly gave  of  their  little  all,  when  they  found  I  did 
not  return  to  Ireland  after  my  visit  to  Rome,  and 
that  Knock  was  still  allowed  to  remain  a  ruin, 
were  greatly  surprised,  and  not  without  reason. 

I  shall  only  say  here  that  Archdeacon  Cavanagh 
would  not  allow  me  to  return,  and  preferred  to  let 
the  convent  remain  a  ruin  and  to  see  the  work  for 
his  people  abandoned.  On  this  point  the  evidence 
of  Bishop  Bagshavve  will  be  found  in  this  volume, 
and  also  that  of  many  others  who  have  expostu- 
lated in  vain  with  the  archdeacon  on  this  subject. 

Yet,  although  Archdeacon  Cavanagh  would  not 
allow  the  work  to  be  continued  even  after  it  had 
been  approved  by  the  Pope,  he,  or  others  for  him, 
made  it  appear  that  I  was  the  person  in  fault.  I 
have  only  too  good  reason  to  know  how  widely  this 
false  report  was  circulated.  It  certainly  produced 
the  effect  which  was  intended.  Still  I  hoped  that 
patience  and  silence  would  win  the  day,  and  that 
those  who  were  accusing  me  falsely  would  tire  of 


4  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

their  unworthy  task,  or,  perhaps,  be  touched  by 
my  silence  ;  and  that  they  would  not  always  allow 
me  to  remain  under  the  burden  of  false  accusa- 
tions. It  seemed  to  me  that  respect  for  the  Holy 
Father  would  have  obliged  the  bishops  to  contradict 
reports  which  they  well  knew  were  false ;  but  this 
book  will  show  how  vain  my  hopes  were. 

Four  years  have  now  elapsed  since  I  came  to 
America,  by  the  desire  of  my  bishop,  and  with  a 
heart  full  of  hope  for  the  extension  of  my  work  for 
Irish  emigrant  and  working  girls.  Before  I  left 
Queenstown,  I  was  told  by  a  priest  that  my  mis- 
sion in  America  would  be  a  failure,  and  the  reason  ; 
and  yet  even  then,  with  all  the  experience  which  I 
had  had,  I  could  not  believe  there  could  be  so 
much  selfishness  amongst  those  who  made  such 
high  professions  of  religion.  The  two  discourag- 
ing circumstances  which  were  told  me,  I  hoped 
would  prove  only  a  temporary  hindrance.  America 
is  a  large  place,  and  here,  at  least,  there  should 
be  room  enough  for  all. 

I  found  that  a  succession  of  priests  had  been  for 
some  time  going  to  America  from  Queenstown  to 
collect  for  the  unfinished  spires  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Cathedral,  at  Queenstown,  which  were  to 
cost  a  fabulous  sum  ;  and  whatever  other  virtues 
Roman  Catholic  prelates  may  have,  counting  the 
cost  of  buildings  which  their  successors,  must 


ANOTHER   OBSTACLE.  5 

finish  is  not  one  of  them.  The  priests  thus 
sent  out  would  naturally  look  with  an  unfavorable 
eye  on  any  one  going  on  a  mission  of  charity ; 
they  would  especially  dislike  mine,  because  they 
knew  the  people  would  be  favorable  to  it,  as  I 
was  well  known  to  have  worked  so  long  for 
Ireland. 

Then  there  was  another  obstacle ;  a  priest  had 
opened  an  immigrant's  home  in  New  York,  and  I 
was  told  he  was  especially  opposed  to  me,  supposing 
that  my  plans  might  interfere  with  his,  though 
nothing  was  further  from  my  thoughts.  He  knew 
that  people  would  naturally  say,  as  indeed  they  did, 
why  should  not  Father  Riordan  and  the  Nun  of 
Kenmare  work  together  ?  and  when  it  was  found 
that  Father  Riordan  or  his  ecclesiastical  superiors, 
or  both,  would  not  allow  this,  I,  for  one,  am  not 
surprised  that  the  reports  which  were  carefully,  ac- 
tively, and  widely  spread  to  my  disadvantage  were 
accepted  as  the  reason  for  a  course  which  seemed 
so  inexplicable.  It  was  obvious  to  any  unprejud- 
iced mind  that  a  work  for  immigrants  was  a 
woman's  work. 

I  found  later  there  was  yet  another  object 
in  view.  The  priests  who  came  from  Queens- 
town  to  collect,  made  a  somewhat  sentimental 
appeal,  saying  that  it  would  help  to  preserve 
the  faith  of  emigrants  to  see  these  marvellous 


6  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

spires  as  their  last  sight  of  Irish  land.  Father 
Riordan,  not  to  be  behindhand,  said  that  he 
would  build  a  church  in  connection  with  his 
immigrant  home,  so  that  the  immigrants  should  be 
greeted  on  their  arrival  by  the  sight  of  a  church. 
For  myself  it  was  very  well  known  that  my  ideas 
were  of  a  practical  character,  and  while  quite 
respecting  and  appreciating  the  idea  of  a  church, 
I  thought  good  practical  training  in  housework, 
for  which  Irish  girls  have  so  little  opportunity 
in  their  own  country,  would  also  contribute  to 
their  religious  good  in  its  own  way.  I  knew  from 
many  years'  correspondence  with  girls  who  had 
emigrated  to  America,  how  much  a  good  practical 
training  in  housework  would  have  benefited  them. 
But  as  I  shall  explain  the  method  and  object  of 
my  work  fully  elsewhere,  I  will  say  no  more  here 
on  this  point. 

•  It  is  evident  that  as  the  work  which  I  proposed 
to  do  could  not  be  found  fault  with,  the  only  re- 
source left  for  those  who  were  determined  to  pre- 
vent its  success  was  to  discredit  me.  How  this  ob- 
ject was  accomplished,  the  present  work  will  show. 
It  only  now  remains  for  me  to  show  briefly  here 
the  immediate  cause  of  my  writing  this  letter  to 
the  Holy  Father,  and  why  I  decided  to  retire 
finally  from  all  attempts  to  continue  the  work 
which  he  was  pleased  to  approve. 


ARCHBISHOP  CORRIGAN  COMPLAINS.  -j 

The  reader  will  find  later  an  account  of  the 
very  serious  illness  from  which  I  suffered  in  the 
fall  of  1887,  and  the  cause  of  it.  The  sisters 
became  so  anxious  about  my  health  that  they 
asked  and  obtained  leave  from  Bishop  Wigger  for 
me  to  spend  the  winter  in  the  South,  as  the  doc- 
tors said  it  was  absolutely  necessary  I  should  do 
so.  This  leave  was  kindly  granted,  and  I  agreed 
to  the  wishes  of  the  sisters  all  the  more  readily 
because  I  hoped  that  my  absence  might  bring 
kinder  feelings  towards  me  on  the  part  of  those 
who  were  causing  me  so  much  suffering.  On  the 
5th  of  November,  just  before  I  set  out  on  my  pain- 
ful journey,  I  received  a  letter  from  Bishop  Wig- 
ger with  the  usual  complaints  against  me  from 
Archbishop  Corrigan.  That  these  complaints 
were  always  found  to  be  groundless  did  not  seem 
to  matter  to  those  who  made  them.  To  me  they 
were  a  constant  source  of  worry  and  distress,  and 
most  injurious  in  my  state  of  health.  "The  arch- 
bishop again  complains,"  wrote  Bishop  Wigger, 
but  as  the  history  of  this  complaint,  and  of  the 
only  interview  which  Archbishop  Corrigan  allowed 
me  to  have  with  him,  is  given  in  full  in  the  latter 
part  of  this  book,  I  will  only  say  here  that  the 
accusation  was  as  groundless  as  usual,  and,  I 
might  say,  as  absurd. 

While  I  was  in  the  South,  and  seriously  ill  after 


g  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

a  severe  attack  of  rheumatic  fever,  another  charge 
was  brought  against  me.  In  the  fall  of  1887  I 
wrote  a  book  called  Anti-Poverty  and  Progress, 
which  was  published  by  Belford,  Clarke,  &  Co. 
In  February  following  I  received  a  letter  from 
Bishop  Wigger,  in  which  there  was  another  accu- 
sation. He  said,  "  You  make  in  your  book  an 
unwarranted,  unjust,  and  scandalous  attack  on 
Archbishop  Corrigan,  his  vicar-general,  Mgr. 
Preston,  and  on  the  members  of  the  diocesan 
council.  I  hereby  require  you  to  make  a  public 
apology  to  these  gentlemen."  I  replied  that  noth- 
ing was  further  from  my  thoughts  than  to  do  what 
I  was  accused  of,  and  begged  to  know  what  I  had 
said  wrong ;  but  this  I  was  not  to  be  told.  The 
practice  of  the  Inquisition  still  holds  in  the  Roman 
church,  as  I  have  found  again  and  again,  and  as 
this  book  will  show.  You  are  condemned  un- 
heard. In  this  case,  as  in  so  many  others  where  I 
was  concerned,  history  repeats  itself ;  I  thought 
well  and  carefully  over  the  matter  ;  I  knew  if  I 
refused  to  apologize,  all  sorts  of  tales  would  be  cir- 
culated. It  would  be  said  I  had  "  quarrelled  with 
my  bishop  "  ;  the  true  facts  of  the  case  would  be 
carefully  concealed  ;  moreover,  Bishop  Wigger  had 
been  very  kind  to  me.  Still,  it  was  hard  to  apolo- 
gize for  something  I  had  not  done,  and  of  which  I 
was  not  even  to  be  told  the  .particulars.  How- 


MY  APOLOGY.  g 

ever,  I  thought  I  would  have  peace  at  any  price. 
I  did  not  reflect  that  I  had  to  do  with  those  who 
were  determined  upon  war. 

I  therefore  wrote  and  sent  the  following  apology 
to  Bishop  Wigger  :  — 

"  March  19,  1888. 

"  MY  DEAR  LORD,  —  I  am  very  much  dis- 
tressed to  learn  from  your  lordship's  letter  that 
you  consider  I '  have  made  an  unwarranted,  unjust, 
and  scandalous  attack  on  Archbishop  Corrigan  and 
his  council,  in  a  pamphlet  published  by  Belford, 
Clarke,  &  Co.,'  and  in  compliance  with  your  lord- 
ship's desire  I  hereby  apologize. 

"  Your  obedient  child  in  Christ, 

"  SISTER  M.  FRANCIS  CLARE." 

I  hoped  this  would  be  the  end  of  all  my  trou- 
bles, and  I  returned  home  as  soon  as  possible.  In 
my  weak  state  of  health,  I  was  obliged  to  travel 
very  slowly.  As  I  did  not  receive  a  reply  from 
the  bishop  I  supposed  he  was  satisfied,  and  that 
there  would  be  peace  until  Archbishop  Corrigan 
made  some  new  complaint ;  but  I  also  determined 
if  more  causeless  trouble  came  that  I  would  give 
up  my  office,  for  it  was  becoming  quite  plain  to 
me  that  a  longer  struggle  must  have  the  same 
result  in  the  end,  my  health  was  quite  broken 
down  by  this  incessant  persecution,  and  I  was 
threatened  with  serious  heart  trouble. 


10  THE  ft  UN  OF  KENMARE. 

On  my  return  from  the  South,  I  sent  a  sister  to 
Bishop  Wigger  to  ask  for  the  usual  leave  for  the 
profession  of  a  novice.  To  her  great  surprise,  he 
would  scarcely  speak  to  her,  and  seemed  very 
angry,  and  positively  refused  the  permission.  She 
thought  it  more  prudent  to  withdraw.  After  a 
week  I  sent  her  again,  but  she  met  again  the  same 
reception  ;  as  far  as  she  could  ascertain,  he  was  not 
satisfied  with  my  apology ;  she  begged  him  to  say 
what  he  did  want,  but  he  would  not.  As  I  knew 
that  I  had  kept  back  matters  which  would  have 
been  very  damaging  to  Archbishop  Corrigan  if 
they  had  been  published,  and  Bishop  Wigger  knew 
this  also,  and  as  I  felt  that  the  silence  which  I  had 
kept  under  every  species  of  provocation  only  ex- 
posed me  to  worse  treatment,  I  at  last  decided  to 
withdraw  from  a  work  which  it  was  quite  evident 
I  should  not  be  allowed  to  accomplish  under  any 
circumstances. 


CHAPTER   II. 

MY    RECEPTION   INTO   THE   ROMAN   CATHOLIC 
CHURCH. 

First  Leanings  towards  Catholicism  —  Acquaintance  with  Dr.  Pusey — 
Entering  the  Anglican  Sisterhood  — Miss  Langston  —  The  Crimean 
War  —  Confirmation  by  Cardinal  Wiseman  —  He  Requests  me  to  De- 
vote my  Life  to  Literature —  Rev.  Father  Whitty,  Miss  Whitty,  and 
the  Sisters  of  Mercy — The  Sisters'  Call — Opposition  of  the  Arch- 
bishop. 

I  WAS  received  into  the  Roman  Catholic  church 
on  the  2d.of  July,  1858. 

The  change  of  opinion  which  led  me  from  the 
Anglican  into  the  Roman  Catholic  church  oc- 
curred at  a  period  when  I  was  suffering  from  a 
long  illness.  At  the  time  of  my  reception  into 
the  Roman  Catholic  church  I  read  a  great  many 
religious  books.  As  I  could  not  bear  to  see 
visitors,  this  was  my  only  pleasure,  and  Keble's 
"Christian  Year,"  together  with  Manning's  and 
Newman's  sermons,  became  my  constant  com- 
panion. Gradually,  through  this  reading,  I  began 
to  grasp  the  idea  of  a  visible  church,  and  to  long 
for  certainty  of  belief. 

At  this  time  I  became  acquainted  with  a  Lord 

and  Lady  F ,  whose  friendship  had  a  great 

effect  on  my  life.  Dr.  Pusey  was  a  personal  friend 


12  TtfE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

of  the  family,  and  he  visited  their  house  on  the  dif- 
ferent occasions  when  he  came  to  that  part  of 
England  to  meet  his  penitents.  At  that  time  the 
practice  of  confession  had  begun  in  the  Anglican 
church,  but,  as  it  was  sternly  repressed  by  the 
authorities,  the  practice  was  carried  on  as  far  as 
possible  in  secret.  Indeed,  both  priest  and  peni- 
tent had  every  reason  for  silence.  I  shall  not  go 
further  into  this  subject  than  to  say  that  I  be- 
came acquainted  with  Dr.  Pusey.  His  writings 
had  long  been  familiar  to  me,  and  I  found  in  him 
all  that  I  had  longed  for,  and  even  more. 

I  have  rarely  met  with  a  man  so  intensely  sym- 
pathetic and  capable  of  entering  into  the  feelings 
of  others,  and  the  little  apparently  unimportant 
circumstances  which  add  so  much  pain  to  heavier 
sorrows. 

By  his  advice  I  decided  to  enter  a  sisterhood 
which  had  then  been  opened  in  London,  and 
which  was  under  the  guidance  of  an  excellent  and 
very  superior  woman.  This  lady,  Miss  Langston, 
was  a  person  of.  considerable  mental  culture,  but 
entirely  unfitted  for  the  life  of  a  sister  in  other 
ways.  From  the  first  I  loved  her,  and  I  always 
found  her  a  sympathetic  friend  ;  but  the  other 
sisters  did  not  get  on  with  her,  and  the  constant 
friction  which  was  daily  inevitable  made  the  sis- 
ters' lives  anything  but  happy  and  comfortable. 


TROUBLES  IN  SISTERHOODS.  £3 

If  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  with  the  experi- 
ence of  centuries,  such  institutions  are  very  far 
from  being  a  paradise  of  charity,  how  could  they 
succeed  better  when  they  were  a  new  experiment  ! 

I  believe  the  trouble  in  some  Anglican  sister- 
hoods at  that  time  arose  from  one  cause,  a  cause 
which  has  done  grievous  harm  to  all  similar  insti- 
tutions ;  it  is  the  rock  on  which  not  only  Anglican 
sisters,  but  many  in  the  Roman  Catholic  church, 
have  made  shipwreck. 

In  the  present  work  I  wish  to  confine  myself  to 
my  own  history.  If  I  were  to  enter  into  a  reli- 
gious controversy,  I  could  not  do  justice  to  the 
reader  or  myself ;  I  only,  therefore,  touch  on  sub- 
jects just  so  far  as  they  touch  on  my  life.  The 
name  of  St.  Francis  de  Sales  is  as  well  known 
as  that  of  Fe"nelon  and  St.  Thomas  a  Kempis  to 
the  general  reader.  This  good  theologian  and 
shrewd  man  of  the  world  expressed  himself  in 
very  plain  language  in  a  work  which  he  wrote  for 
the  use  of  the  sisterhood  which  he  founded.  He 
warned  young  ladies  who  desired  to  enter  con- 
vents that  the  life  was  not  all  sunshine  or  all 
piety,  and  that  if  they  merely  entered  a  convent 
because  they  wished  to  escape  from  the  troubles 
of  home,  they  might  find  worse  troubles  even 
there. 

Now,  if  such  troubles  arose  and  such  difficulties 


!4  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

I 

existed  in  sisterhoods  founded  by  a  saint  and  pre- 
sided over  by  a  saint,  are  we  more  likely  to  escape 
them  to-day  ? 

Leaving  aside  altogether  the  question  of  the 
value  of  the  sisterhoods  of  the  church,  whether 
Roman  or  Anglican,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  same 
troubles  arise  now  as  occurred  in  the  time  of 
St.  Francis  de  Sales. 

The  question  of  injustice  in  the  government  of 
such  institutions  by  local  superiors  or  bishops  is 
quite  another  matter.  In  many  cases  Roman 
Catholic  priests  and  superiors  put  obedience  to 
themselves  in  the  place  of  obedience  to  God,  and, 
though  they  do  not  and  dare  not  teach  a  theory 
of  personal  infallibility,  they  act  as  if  it  were  an 
article  of  faith,  and  make  it  a  sin  if  obedience  is 
not  rendered  to  commands  which  are  often  wrong, 
because  they  are  contrary  to  the  true  spirit  of 
Christian  charity.  We  have  lately  had  an  in- 
stance of  this  in  the  case  of  a  Roman  Catholic 
priest  who,  without  any  pretence  to  a  fair  trial, 
was  driven  out  of  his  home  with  but  a  few  hours' 
notice,  under  circumstances  of  heartlessness  and 
injustice  which  startled  every  thinking  man.  We 
know  of  a  great  many  cases  in  which  sisters  have 
been  treated  with  equal  injustice  and  without  any 
assigned  cause. 

Such  proceedings   dare   not   be   attempted   by 


INJUSTICE  IN  THE   CHURCH.  ^ 

secular  courts,  and  why  should  ecclesiastics  be 
supported  in  practising  what  seculars  dare  not 
attempt  ? 

And  then  follow  the  deepest  evils  of  all.  If 
any  priest  or  layman  ventures  to  express  an  opin- 
ion he  as  at  once  denounced  as  disloyal  to  his 
church,  as  if  the  action  of  a  bishop  or  priest  should 
be  protected  from  criticism  more  than  the  action 
of  a  layman. 

The  outcome  of  this  is  too  often  not  merely  a 
miserable  demand  for  silence  on  the  part  of  those 
who  look  on  these  evils  with  a  sorrow  which  they 
dare  not  express ;  but  often  an  expression  of  appro- 
bation of  what  they  condemn  is  required.  An  ex- 
pression of  confidence  in  the  conduct  of  the  eccle- 
siastical judge  must  be  got  at  any  cost.  And  the 
priest  knows  what  he  must  suffer  if  he  dares  to 
refuse  his  signature  to  a  declaration  which  he 
abhors,  and  the  consequences  of  refusal  are  such 
that  few  men  dare  to  risk  it. 

I  must  pass  briefly  over  this  period  of  my  life,  or 
my  autobiography  would  be  far  too  long  for  the 
patience  of  my  reader.  The  Crimean  war  broke 
out,  with  all  its  attendant  miseries,  while  I  was  in 
the  London  sisterhood.  The  Anglican  sisters 
were  as  prompt  to  obey  the  call  as  the  Roman 
Catholic  sisters,  and  there  was  a  holy  emulation 
as  to  which  should  do  the  most  for  God  and  for 


1 6  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

the  suffering.  Miss  Langston  and  several  of  our 
sisters  offered  themselves  for  the  work.  For  my- 
self, how  my  heart  longed  for  it  no  words  could 
say,  but  my  health  was  such  that  I  would  not 
have  been  accepted.  To  have  gone  to  the  Crimea, 
and  to  have  died  in  the  service  of  our  brave  men, 
would  have  been  too  happy  an  ending  of  my  life. 

Once  again  I  was  thrown  amongst  strangers, 
and  in  very  painful  circumstances.  The  London 
sisterhood  to  which  I  belonged  passed  under  the 
control  of  a  lady  of  whom  I  shall  only  say  that  she 
knew  very  little  of  the  true  spirit  of  the  religious 
life.  I  had  seen  the  dear  mother  of  the  Clewer 
sisterhood,  since  dead  ;  indeed,  she  came  to  London 
especially  to  see  me,  as  she  was  a  relative  of  my 
mother's  family,  and  when  our  home  in  London 
was  placed  under  new  management  I  often  re- 
gretted I  had  not  gone  to  her. 

I  had  by  this  time  acquired  a  very  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  London  poor  and  their  surround- 
ings, and  how  often  since  have  I  pictured  to  my- 
self the  scenes  I  then  witnessed  !  No  wonder  the 
Chartist  and  the  socialist  have  sway,  when  the  rich 
care  so  little  for  the  poor,  and  leave  them  to  suffer 
unheeded. 

I  can  scarcely  tell  when  I  entertained  the  first 
idea  of  entering  the  Roman  Catholic  church  ;  my 
principal  reason  was  the  strong  assurance  which 


TEACHINGS  OF  THE   CHURCH.  ^ 

that  church  gives  that  it  has  always  taught  and 
always  will  teach  the  same  doctrine.  But  I  have 
lived  to  see  a  stupendous  change,  which  I  know 
of  my  own  knowledge  has  shocked  the  moral 
sense  if  it  has  not  offended  the  conscience  even 
of  many  bishops. 

When  I  first  was  received  into  the  Roman 
Catholic  church  I  was  taught,  as  all  Catholics 
were  taught  then,  that  the  church  was  infallible ; 
that  when  the  Apostles  said,  "  It  seems  good  to 
the  Holy  Ghost  and  to  us,"  they  spoke  collectively, 
as  the  church  did  then  ;  and  that  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic church  and  the  early  Catholic  church  could 
also  say,  "  It  seems  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost  and  to 
us." 

What  a  change  from  this  dogma  to  the  present 
teaching  of  the  same  church  !  No  longer  do  you 
hear,  "  It  seems  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost  and  to 
us,"  but  the  cry  is,  "  It  seems  good  to  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  to  me."  The  voice  of  the  church  is 
practically  lost  in  the  voice  of  a  single  man. 

There  was  yet  another  subject  which  was  the 
immediate  cause  of  my  change  of  religious  opin- 
ion. Dr.  Pusey,  and  those  who  thought  with  him, 
taught  a  doctrine  on  the  subject  of  Holy  Commu- 
nion, which,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  nearly  approached 
that  taught  by  the  Roman  Catholic  church.  I 
embraced  his  teaching  to  the  full,  and  on  one  occa- 


!g  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

sion,  when  I  saw  great  though  unintentional  irrev- 
erence offered  to  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  I  decided 
not  to  receive  the  Holy  Communion  in  the  Angli- 
can Church  any  more.  I  went  soon  after  to  a 
priest  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  He  also 
was  a  convert,  and  expressed  himself  as  greatly 
shocked  at  what  I  told  him.  Alas,  he  did  not  tell 
me  that  I  should  find,  as  I  eventually  did,  far  more 
irreverence  amongst  those  who  are  far  less  excus- 
able. I  soon  came  to  know  that  there  are  many 
things  which  experience  alone  can  teach  us,  and 
that  those  who  make  the  highest  professions  of 
belief  are  not  always  the  most  perfect  in  their 
actions. 

I  was  received  into  the  Catholic  Church  in 
London,  and  confirmed  by  his  Eminence  the  late 
Cardinal  Wiseman.  After  my  confirmation  I  was 
asked  to  breakfast  at  his  house,  and  was  intro- 
duced to  a  number  of  the  leading  converts  and 
Catholics  whom  I  had  not  previously  known. 
Several  Sisters  of  Mercy  breakfasted  with  the 
party,  which  I  found  was  not  unusual  on  such 
occasions. 

I  was  introduced  to  the  reverend  mother  with  a 
view  to  the  probability  of  my  entrance  into  that 
order.  A  few  days  later  I  was  invited  to  a  private 
interview  with  Cardinal  Wiseman,  when  his  Emi- 
nence warmly  congratulated  me  on  my  conversion, 


CARDINAL    WISEMANS  ADVICE.  ig 

and  told  me  that  his  especial  object  in  seeing  me 
alone  was  to  obtain  a  promise  from  me  that  I 
would  devote  the  rest  of  my  life  to  Catholic  litera- 
ture. Though  I  was  then  quite  young,  I  had 
already  begun  my  career  as  an  author.  I  willingly 
gave  the  required  promise,  and,  though  I  never 
saw  Cardinal  Wiseman  again,  he  corresponded 
with  me  continually,  encouraged  my  literary  work, 
and  wrote  to  me  almost  the  last  letter  he  ever 
penned. 

I  made  at  this  time  also  another  friend,  the  Rev. 
Father  Whitty,  who  afterward  joined  the  Jesuit 
fathers,  and  who  now  holds  a  high  position  in 
that  order.  He  was  then,  I  think,  vicar-general 
of  the  Westminster  archdiocese.  It  had  happened 
that  he  knew  some  of  my  relatives,  and,  though  all 
were  Protestants,  he  held  them  in  very  high  es- 
teem ;  a  curious  circumstance  had  increased  this 
intimacy,  and  given  him  a  more  than  ordinary 
interest  in  my  conversion.  His  sister,  Miss 
Whitty,  was  the  superioress  of  a  well-known  con- 
vent in  Dublin.  The  order  of  Sisters  of  Mercy, 
to  which  she  belonged,  had  been  founded  by  a 
Miss  McAuley.  That  lady  was  a  convert  to  the 
Catholic  faith,  and  had  the  zeal  and  earnestness  of 
converts.  In  her  efforts  to  help  to  save  poor 
girls,  she  met  with  the  usual  opposition  from 
selfish  and  self-interested  ecclesiastics,  but  she 


20  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

eventually  succeeded.  For  some  reason  the  order 
(Sisters  of  Mercy)  has  not  increased  much  out  of 
Ireland.  There  are  apparently  few  convents  of 
Sisters  of  Mercy  in  America,  but  in  Ireland  there 
is  one  in  nearly  every  village.  Miss  McAuley  was 
persecuted  by  one  of  her  Protestant  relatives,  and 
on  one  occasion  she  was  driven  out  on  the  streets 
of  Dublin  late  at  night.  She  fled  for  refuge  to 
an  uncle  of  mine,  who,  though  he  was  a  Prot- 
estant, did  not  fail  to  sympathize  with  her,  and 
did  all  he  could  to  console  and  protect  her. 
Father  Whitty  was,  of  course,  well  aware  of  all 
these  circumstances,  and  consequently  felt  addi- 
tional interest  in  my  affairs.  He  was  also,  I  was 
told,  very  much  impressed  with  the  circumstances 
of  my  conversion,  thinking  I  had  shown  much 
moral  courage  in  coming  alone  to  London  while  so 
young,  and  facing  the  brave  ordeal  of  such  a  change 
of  belief  without  one  friend  to  help  me.  For  my- 
self, I  may  truly  say  I  never  gave  a  thought  to  the 
consequences  of  what  I  was  doing  ;  I  believed  it 
was  right  to  become  a  Catholic  ;  what  it  might 
cost  me  spiritually  or  temporally  never  weighed 
with  me  in  making  a  decision. 

Perhaps  one  of  the  most  eventful  circumstances 
in  my  eventful  life  was  the  coincidence  between 
the  kind  and  considerate  treatment  which  my 
Protestant  relative  showed  to  this  converted  Cath- 


PERSECUTION  OF  MISS  Me  A  U LEY.  2l 

olic  lady,  and  the  way  in  which  the  Catholic  arch- 
bishop and  cardinal  of  Dublin  afterwards  treated 
me.  In  the  very  same  place  and  in  the  same 
street  where  this  Catholic  convert  lady,  who  like 
myself  was  the  foundress  of  a  new  religious  order, 
was  received  and  sheltered  by  my  Protestant  rela- 
tives, I  was  driven  out  by  the  then  Roman  Cath- 
olic archbishop,  without  one  thought  of  pity  or 
justice,  or  one  word  of  consideration,  without  even 
a  charge  of  any  kind  being  made  against  me.* 

As  I  am  writing  facts,  and  as  I  believe  that  a 
great  deal  of  the  evil  and  injustice  of  life  is 
caused  by  the  silence  of  those  who  are  either 
afraid  or  ashamed  to  speak  out,  I  will  add  here  a 
few  words.  During  the  famine  of  1879,  I  na^>  as 
will  be  shown  later,  very  large  sums  of  money 
placed  at  my  disposal.  I  need  not  say  that  I  tried 
to  be  careful  and  conscientious  in  the  distribution 
of  these  funds.  I  believed  then,,  and  I  believe 
still,  that  I  disposed  of  them  in  the  best  way,  by 
giving  a  large  proportion  to  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  ; 
for,  as  I  have  said  above,  they  have  convents  in 
nearly  every  village  in  Ireland,  and  are  well 
acquainted  with  the  needs  of  the  poor. 

*  A  full  account  of  this  will  be  given  further  on.  The  account 
of  how  my  relative,  Surgeon  Cusack,  received  and  protected  Miss 
McAuley  can  be  found  in  the  life  of  that  lady,  written  by  one  of 
the  American  Sisters  of  Mercy,  and  published  in  this  country. 


22  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

When  I  came  to  America,  I  thought  the  Sisters 
of  Mercy  here  would  be  pleased  to  see  me,  and 
help  in  any  way  they  could  one  who  had  been  so 
practically  devoted  to  their  order.  I  suppose  the 
word  had  been  sent  them  by  ecclesiastical  author- 
ity that  I  was  to  be  "  boycotted  "  ;  however  it  may 
have  been,  when  I  called  on  the  sisters  in  New 
York,  I  was  received  with  freezing  coldness.  In 
the  month  of  July,  1886,  two  Sisters  of  Mercy 
came  to  New  York  from  Big  Rapids,  where  they 
had  a  convent,  but  had  found  it  "  too  poor "  a 
place  to  live  in.  These  sisters  did  not  go  to  their 
own  sisters  in  New  York,  they  came  to  our  poor 
sisters  in  Jersey  City.  Indeed,  our  hospitality 
has  often  been  asked  by  sisters,  and  has  never 
been  refused.  While  I  was  in  charge  of  the 
order,  I  tried  to  do  all  that  I  could  for  those  who, 
like  ourselves,  were  trying  to  do  their  best  in  their 
own  way  for  God  and  the  poor. 

As  a  matter  touching  on  the  difficulties  of 
sisters  and  their  difficulties  in  dealing  with  eccle- 
siastical authorities,  I  may  give  the  following 
incident. 

The  sisters  of  the  order  of  the  G S , 

belonging  to  the  A y  diocese,  came  to  our  con- 
vent in  Jersey  City  and  earnestly  begged  for  a  few 
weeks'  hospitality.  The  sisters  said  they  were 
going  to  collect  in  New  York,  and  it  was  not  con- 


COLLECTING   UNDER  DIFFICULTIES.          2$ 

venient  for  them  to  remain  with  the  sisters  of 
their  own  order  there.  I  readily  consented,  hav- 
ing first  asked  if  they  had  all  the  necessary  epis- 
copal permissions.  The  sisters  replied  "yes." 
They  came  to  us  in  a  few  days  and  remained  some 
weeks,  during  which  time  they  spent  their  entire 
days  collecting  in  New  York  and  Brooklyn. 

I  learned  later  that  the  sisters  had  no  permis- 
sion to  collect  in  either  New  York  or  Brooklyn ; 
whether  they  had  permission  from  their  own 
bishop  to  do  this  I  do  not  know.  The  reason 
they  came  to  me  was  simply  that  if  they  had  gone 
to  a  convent  of  their  own  order  in  New  York, 
they  must  have  been  seen  by  some  of  the  priests 
there,  who  would  have  recognized  them  as  stran- 
gers, and  they  might  have  been  forbidden  to 
collect. 

There  is  an  amusing  incident  of  this  collecting 
under  difficulties,  the  circumstances  of  which  are 
also  known  to  me.  Two  sisters  came  from  Aus- 
tralia wishing  to  collect  some  thirty  or  forty  thou- 
sand dollars  for  an  institution  there,  which  had 
suffered  from  some  local  cause.  I  understood 
that  the  priest  who  sent  these  poor  sisters  over 
the  world,  for  they  had  even  been  in  Africa,  was  a 
man  of  great  wealth.  I  hope  this  was  not  true, 
but  I  heard  the  report  from  good  authority. 

They  came  to  New  York  full  of  hope,  as  the 


24  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

priest  who  had  sent  them  was  nearly  related 
to  an  influential  politician,  and  it  was  supposed 
that  the  archbishop  would  not  venture  to  refuse 
his  requests.  This  politican  called  on  the  arch- 
bishop with  the  two  sisters,  and  was  refused  for  some 
inscrutable  reason.  It  mattered  little,  however,  to 
the  sisters  ;  their  friend  was  determined  not  to  be 
baffled  so  easily.  If  his  Grace  gave  the  desired 
permission,  well  and  good ;  if  he  refused,  his  re- 
fusal was  of  no  moment  to  a  gentleman  whose 
political  influence  was  too  important  for  any 
delinquences  to  be  visited  with  episcopal  dis- 
pleasure. So,  after  expressing  his  feelings  in 
choice  language,  he  left  the  palace  and  took  the 
sisters  himself  on  the  round  of  collecting,  the 
result  being,  as  I  heard,  some  $25,000  in  a  few 
days.  The  sisters  called  on  me  afterwards,  ac- 
companied by  one  of  Dr.  McGlynn's  most  devoted 
followers,  who  was  also  assisting  them  in  every 
way  in  her  power.  She  being,  of  course,  as  inde- 
pendent of  the  archbishop's  displeasure  as  the 
politician.  And  so  as  the  money  was  got,  the 
sisters  were  perfectly  indifferent  TIOW  it  was  ob- 
tained, having  such  powerful  protection  against 
the  archbishop's  interference. 


CHAPTER   III. 

LIFE   AT   NEWRY. 

Desire  to  Work  for  the  Poor  —  Cardinal  Newman's  Apologia  —  The  Bishop 
and  Cardinal  Antonelli  —  The  French  Governess  —  Journey  to  Newry 
—  MissX)'Hagan —  Her  Character  and  History — Entrance  to  the  Con- 
vent —  Life  at  Newry  —  Taking  the  Habit  —  My  Health  —  History  of 
the  Poor  Clares  —  Trials  of  Religious  Houses — Estrangement  from 
Relatives  —  Literary  Work  —  Trouble  over  my  Publications  —  A  Jeal- 
ous Priest  and  a  Dedication  —  My  Book  "  Pirated  "  by  a  New  York 
Priest — Building  Operations  and  Money  Troubles  —  The  Bishop  In- 
terferes. —  A  Momentous  Visit  is  Paid  us. 

I  HAVE  said  that  I  do  not  intend  to  enter  on 
controversial  subjects,  but  there  are  two  points  on 
which  I  think  I  should  say  a  few  words.  I  have 
indicated  briefly  how  the  idea  of  a  divinely  ap- 
pointed church,  and  of  a  divine  authority  to  teach, 
came  to  my  mind  at  this  time  ;  a  time  when  men's 
minds  were  sorely  tried  on  matters  of  faith.  The 
claims  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church  began  to 
receive  grave  consideration.  Men  who  were  very 
much  in  earnest  about  religion,  grasped  at  the  idea 
of  certainty  when  there  was  so  much  confusion  of 
religious  thought. 

I  remember  my  two  great  difficulties  in  accept- 
ing the  teachings  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church 
were  the  fact  that  I  knew  the  claim  which  the 

2S 


26  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

Greek  church  had  to  valid  orders,  and  that  this 
was  acknowledged  by  the  Roman  Catholic  church. 
I  asked,  then,  why  might  not  the  claim  of  the  An- 
glican church  be  equally  valid  ?  And  I  knew  that 
this  was  admitted  even  by  some  Roman  Catholic 
divines,  and  that  some  Anglican  converts  who  had 
become  Roman  Catholics  would  not  accept  reor- 
dination,  and  remained  simply  laymen.  I  was 
also  doubtful  and  distressed  about  some  of  the 
forms  of  worship  which  were  paid  to  the  Blessed 
Virgin. 

My  experience  of  Anglican  sisterhoods  after  I 
left  the  Home  in  London  had  been  exceedingly 
painful,  but  all  this  did  not  lessen  my  desire  to 
live  the  life  of  a  sister,  to  give  my  life  entirely  to 
God,  and  to  work  for  His  poor.  This  seemed  to 
me  the  only  object  worth  existing  for.  It  did  not 
occur  to  me  to  look  into  the  history  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  church.  It  never  occurred  to  me  that 
there  could  be  any  real  evils  in  the  communion 
which  I  had  entered,  because  I  believed  it  was  so 
perfect. 

I  certainly  was  not  wilfully  deceived  by  any 
one.  I  was  ignorant  by  accident  rather  than  from 
deception.  I  may  say  also  that  I  know  there  are 
a  considerable  number  of  converts,  and  I  know 
there  are  thousands  of  Roman  Catholics,  who  have 
not  even  the  least  idea  of  the  evils  which  unhap- 


CARDINAL  NEWMAN'S  OPINIONS,  27 

pily  I  know  too  well.  My  knowledge  of  these 
things  has  come  from  no  seeking  of  mine,  but 
through  the  course  of  a  very  remarkable  Provi- 
dence. There  is  a  passage  in  Cardinal  Newman's 
Apologia,  (page  271,)  where  he  touches  on  the 
subject  of  the  "  Character  of  Priests,"  and  he  asks 
why  they  should  live  so  self-sacrificing  a  life  if  they 
were  not  sincere  in  doing  so. 

Now,  there  can  be  no  doubt  about  Cardinal 
Newman's  sincerity ;  but  the  question  is,  whether 
he  was  likely  to  have  had  full  opportunities  of  in- 
formation. In  weighing  the  value  of  an  opinion, 
there  must  always  be  a  consideration  of  the  source 
from  whence  it  is  derived,  and  the  opportunities 
of  knowledge  which  the  individual  has  possessed. 

It  is  well  known  that  Cardinal  Newman  lived  in 
a  very  restricted  circle ;  and  it  is  also  well  known 
that  Bishop  Ullathorne,  in  whose  diocese  he  lived, 
was  extremely  strict  with  his  priests.  I  myself 
heard  one  of  the  very  fathers  who  belonged  to 
Cardinal  Newman's  order  speaking  of  him  in  a 
most  disrespectful  manner,  but  of  course  such  dis- 
respect would  never  reach  Cardinal  Newman. 

I  knew  a  bishop  who  was  living  in  Rome,  in 
the  Vatican,  and  on  the  most  intimate  terms  with 
the  late  Cardinal  Antonelli  when  the  latter  was 
living  a  sinful  life  ;  and  I  believe  this  bishop  when 
he  told  me  that  he  knew  nothing  of  what  was 


28  THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

going  on  until  long  after  he  left  Rome,  and  that 
even  then  he  could  scarcely  credit  it.  This  bishop 
was  at  that  time  a  priest  and  convert,  a  man  of 
large  property  and  great  influence  also,  and  any- 
thing like  scandal  would  consequently  have  been 
carefully  hidden  from  him. 

The  first  faint  breath  of  suspicion  that  anything 
could  be  wrong  in  those  who  were  devoted  to  the 
service  of  God  came  to  me  at  this  time,  but  I  put 
it  from  me  with  the  consoling  reflection  that 
scandals  must  come.  Later  I  had  to  learn,  to  my 
infinite  grief,  that  scandals  of  a  most  serious  kind 
exist,  and  exist  unreproved,  which  is  the  real  evil. 

A  French  lady,  who  was  governess  in  the  fam- 
ily of  a  friend,  spoke  of  the  priest  of  our  mission  in 
a  way  which  I  considered  most  disrespectful,  and 
for  which  she  maintained  that  she  had  cause.  She 
gave  a  history  of  her  experiences  with  priests  very 
freely,  and  in  a  way  which  was  not  calculated  to 
make  them  respected  as  a  body,  if  her  statements 
were  true.  She  was  soon  after  removed  from  the 
place,  to  the  very  great  relief  of  many  of  us. 

The  next  case  was  that  of  a  priest  and  a  Jesuit 
father,  and  I  heard  from  his  own  lips  bitter  com- 
plaints of  the  conduct  of  some  of  his  superiors  ; 
and  he  was  not  a  convert  but  belonged  to  an  old 
English  Catholic  family. 

My  journey  to  Newry  was  made  on  the  2d  of 


JOURNEY   TO  NEWRY.  2$ 

July,  1859.  There  had  been  a  railway  accident 
some  little  time  before,  and  a  large  bridge  near 
Drogheda  was  so  seriously  injured  that  the  trains 
could  not  pass  over  it.  Passengers  were  expected 
to  walk,  and  it  was  a  rough  and  difficult  under- 
taking. I  felt  indeed  sad  and  lonely ;  every  one 
else  seemed  to  have  friends  and  companions  to 
help  them  ;  I  had  no  one.  I  was  going  to  strange 
people  and  to  a  strange  place,  and  on  an  errand 
which  was  to  influence  my  whole  future  life.  I 
was  to  all  appearances  a  free  agent ;  and  I  was 
still  young,  I  had  full  liberty  of  choice  ;  yet  I  felt 
then  in  some  strange  way,  as  I  have  often  felt 
since,  that  I  had  no  choice ;  that  I  was  led  or 
moved  or  influenced  by  some  exterior  power. 

I  was  received  by  the  reverend  mother,  who 
kept  up  the  grand  title  of  "  Abbess  "  by  which 
superiors  were  distinguished  when  the  order  was 
in  its  original  state.  The  office  was  then  held  by 
Miss  O'Hagan.  She  was  a  remarkable  woman. 
Her  family  were  persons  of  humble  origin,  Mr. 
O'Hagan  having  lived  and  died,  master  of  a  small 
boat  and  later,  I  believe,  owner  of  a  little  liquor 
store  in  Belfast.  Yet  such  is  the  force  of  native 
talent  that,  although  she  had  entered  the  convent 
with  very  little  education,  she  became  the  superior 
of  this  institution,  and  her  brother,  who  had  an 
extraordinary  gift  of  native  eloquence,  rose  from 


go  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

the  position  of  reporter  on  a  local  paper  to  a  high 
place  in  the  Irish  bar,  and  later  was  given  a  peer- 
age for  services  done  to  the  Gladstone  govern- 
ment. 

Miss  O'Hagan,  though  not  well  educated,  had 
refined  taste,  an  attractive  manner,  and  a  very 
excellent  judgment.  She  had  joined  the  sisters 
very  young,  and  was  one  of  the  truest  and  best 
religious  I  have  ever  known.  From  the  first 
moment  of  our  meeting  we  formed  a  mutual  at- 
tachment, which  never  ceased  until  death  divided 
us. 

A  few  hours  decided  my  future.  I  resolved  to 
enter  this  convent,  and  I  returned  the  next  day 
to  Dublin  to  arrange  some  affairs.  As  I  had  no 
one  to  consult,  and  was  entirely  my  own  mistress, 
I  came  back  to  Newry  in,  I  think,  five  or  six  days 
from  the  date  of  my  first  visit. 

On  the  whole,  the  life  there  was  peaceful  and 
useful.  There  were  large  schools,  where  we 
taught  during  certain  hours  in  the  day.  The  in- 
struction was  thorough  and  careful,  and  much 
good  was  done  also  by  Sunday  classes  of  girls, 
young  women,  and  even  of  much  older  persons. 
We  were  spared  one  great  trial  of  the  American 
sisterhoods  ;  there  was  no  begging.  Every  young 
lady  who  entered  the  community  was  obliged  to 
bring  a  sum  of  money  with  her  to  be  invested  on 


ENTERING    THE   CONVENT.  31 

good  security,  the  interest  of  which  would  be  suf- 
ficient to  provide  her  with  food  and  clothing. 
This  money  belonged  to  the  community  as  a  body, 
and  could  not  be  claimed  or  used  by  any  individ- 
ual, except  in  the  case  of  removal  to  another  con- 
vent. Of  course  in  a  community  long  established, 
and  where  this  rule  was  strictly  observed,  as  sisters 
died,  their  money  remained,  and  considerable  prop- 
erty was  accumulated. 

I  was  not  long  an  inmate  of  the  convent  before 
I  discovered  that  life  there  was  very  much  like  life 
anywhere  else.  It  had  its  sorrows  and  its  joys. 
Differences  of  temper  often  broke  out  and  made 
unpleasantnesses.  Miss  O'Hagan  was  a  compara- 
tively young  superioress  and  had  her  own  troubles 
with  some  of  the  older  sisters.  They  were  them- 
selves entirely  unfit  for  office,  but  were  none  the 
less  jealous  of  her. 

I  was  urgently  pressed  to  receive  the  religious 
habit  on  the  I2th  of  August,  just  one  month  after 
I  joined  the  community.  The  usual  period  of 
waiting  was  six  months  and  often  more.  I  re- 
member well  the  very  place  in  the  convent  garden 
where  Miss  O'Hagan,  the  "  Abbess,"  told  me  that 
all  had  been  arranged.  I  objected  strongly,  and 
even  positively  refused.  I  said  I  desired  more 
time  to  consider,  but  I  at  last  yielded  to  persua- 
sion and  affection.  I  saw  that  she  was  very  much 


32  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

vexed  and  that  she  considered  me  very  ungrateful. 
I  could  not;  bear  to  be  thought  ungrateful,  and  I 
knew  she  was  granting  me  a  very  special  favor. 
I  loved  her  so  sincerely  I  could  not  bear  to  pain 
her,  and  I  saw  she  would  be  greatly  pained  by  my 
refusal.  I  consented,  but  it  is  only  justice  to  all 
concerned,  to  say  that  I  believe  I  should  have 
made  the  same  decision  if  the  usual  time  had 
elapsed,  or  even  if  I  had  been  given  a  longer  time 
for  reflection. 

My  health  had  always  been  delicate,  and  every 
consideration  was  shown  to  me.  I  had  always 
been  accustomed  to  English  food  and  comforts, 
and  felt  the  loss  of  them  keenly,  but  this  never 
caused  me  to  shrink  for  a  moment  from  my  voca- 
tion. 

If  I  had  been  of  a  more  robust  frame,  I  should 
have  entered  an  order  where  I  could  have  worked 
in  a  hospital  or  amongst  the  poor,  that  having 
been  the  desire  of  my  life  from  my  childhood,  and 
long  years  before  I  ever  thought  of  joining  the 
Roman  church.  I  was  at  this  time  compara- 
tively ignorant  of  the  customs  of  the  different 
religious  orders,  and  naturally  it  did  not  occur  to 
the  Poor  Clares  to  explain  to  me  that  the  Irish 
branch  of  the  order  had  altogether  departed  from 
their  original  rule,  and  that  their  vow  of  inclosure 
is  merely  episcopal.  Their  rule  is  verbally  almost 


THE   ORDER   OF  POOR   CLARES. 


33 


the  same  as  that  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  and  the 
Presentation  Order.  When  the  Irish  Poor  Clares 
were  established  at  the  beginning  of  this  century, 
they  were  dispensed  by  the  Holy  See  from  all  the 
fasts  and  abstinences  of  the  Poor  Clare  rule.  They 
were  dispensed  from  saying  the  Divine  Office  ;  in 
fact,  every  observance  of  the  original  rule  of  the 
Poor  Clares  was  dispensed,  in  order  to  enable  the 
sisters  to  teach.  The  vows  of  the  Irish  Poor 
Clares  are  also  simple  vows,  and  though  the  vow 
of  inclosure  forbids  the  sisters  to  go  outside  of  the 
convent  grounds  without  the  permission  of  their 
Bishop,  they  have  no  grating  in  the  parlor  ;  and 
seculars,  and  even  gentlemen,  can  go  and  do  go 
through  the  convent,  especially  in  Kenmare,  where 
the  sisters  go  into  the  public  church,  and  into  the 
grounds  belonging  to  the  public  church,  which 
adjoins  the  convent.  Those  who  know  of  Poor 
Clares  only  as  a  strictly  inclosed  and  contemplative 
order  have  expressed  surprise  how  I  found  so 
much  time  for  active  work,  supposing  I  was  in  a 
contemplative  order  ;  but  as  explained,  the  work 
of  the  Poor  Clares  in  Ireland  is  not  contem- 
plative. 

I  soon  found  that  Miss  O'Hagan  was  very  anx- 
ious that  I  should  continue  my  literary  work.  I 
think  she  would  have  made  any  sacrifice  to  enable 
me  to  do  so ;  but  no  sacrifice  was  needed,  as  my 


34 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


literary  work  became  a  source  of  considerable 
pecuniary  gain  to  the  sisters,  a  fact  of  which  they 
very  gladly  availed  themselves. 

A  convert  to  the  Catholic  faith  is  led  to  enter 
that  church,  not  merely  by  the  belief  and  hope 
that  it  is  the  one  true  church,  but  also  by  the 
very  natural  conclusion  that  it  is  the  one  holy 
church.  I  believe  the  cause  of  some  of  the  trou- 
ble in  convent  life  is  a  mistaken  view  of  human 
nature.  Those  who  enter  a  religious  house,  young, 
and  full  of  hope  and  zeal,  and  with  such  sublime 
ideas  of  perfection,  still  take  with  them  poor 
humanity.  To  believe  that  putting  on  a  religious 
garb  will  at  once  alter  the  dispositions,  tempers, 
or  personal  peculiarities,  is  a  sad  delusion.  It  is 
true  that  we  may,  by  generous  efforts,  change  in 
some  respects,  but  nature  is  slow,  and  habit  is 
strong.  We  come  into  the  convent  full  of  imper- 
fections, perhaps  of  grave  faults,  and  we  expect  to 
find  every  one  there  perfect ;  but  they,  like  our- 
selves, are  human. 

No  doubt  (and  indeed  I  know  this  from  per- 
sonal experience)  there  is  far  more  peace  and 
happiness  in  some  religious  houses  than  in  others, 
and  much  depends  upon  the  superiors  in  effecting 
this  difference.  But  the  wisest  and  most  capable 
superior  has  immense  difficulties,  never  for  one 
moment  suspected  by  those  outside,  who  little 


ESTRANGEMENT  FROM  MY  RELA  TIVES.     3  5 

know  the  interior  trials  and  troubles  of  even  those 
who  are  nearest  and  dearest  to  them. 

When  visitors  come  to  a  religious  house,  they 
come,  as  St.  Francis  de  Sales  has  said,  "  to  be 
consoled,"  they  do  not  come  to  sympathize  with 
troubles  which  they  never  suspect. 

In  consequence  of  my  having  been  much  sep- 
arated from  my  relatives  during  my  early  life, 
I  was  known  to  them  only  by  name  or  by  a  rare 
interview.  To  this  cause  I  attribute  some  of  my 
troubles.  This  unintentional  estrangement  was 
greatly  increased  and  intensified  by  my  becoming 
a  Catholic,  and  by  their  very  strong  anti-Catholic 
feelings.  I  was  in  Ireland  now,  certainly,  and 
within  easy  reach,  but  I  never  should  have 
thought  of  asking  my  relatives  to  visit  me  in  the 
convent.  Hence,  I  was  singularly  and  painfully 
alone  in  the  world.  I  had  also,  by  becoming  a 
Catholic,  severed  myself  from  very  dear  friends  in 
Devonshire,  a  family  with  which  I  once  expected 
to  be  closely  united.  Their  protection  too,  if 
available,  would  have  been  invaluable,  and  indeed 
their  affection  has  never  ceased.  But  distance, 
and  by  degrees  the  interests  and  duties  of  my  new 
life  made  a  complete  separation  unavoidable. 

A  young  priest  assisted  at  my  reception  at 
Newry  who  promised  to  be  an  ornament  to  the 
Church.  His  sister,  who  had  not  been  long  pro- 


36  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

fessed,  came  with  us  later  on  the  Kenmare  found- 
ation, and  I  attribute  at  least  some  of  the  suffer- 
ing which  she  there  caused  me  to  the  trouble 
which  she  was  in  from  the  conduct  of  her  brother, 
who  unhappily  abandoned  his  vocation  and  gave 
himself  up  to  a  life  of  intemperance. 

My  time  was  principally  employed  in  writing. 
The  only  occupation  of  the  sisters  was  teaching 
the  poor  children,  and,  as  there  was  quite  a  num- 
ber of  well-educated  sisters  in  Newry,  my  ser- 
vices in  that  department  were  not  needed.  In 
connection  with  my  literary  work  I  first  came  to 
know  that  ecclesiastics  were  not  the  perfect  beings 
I  had  supposed.  One  of  the  works  which  I  wrote 
in  Newry  Convent  was  a  life  of  St.  Francis  of 
Assisi,  the  great  founder  of  the  Franciscan  Order. 
This  book  had  cost  me  a  great  deal  of  labor  and 
research.  It  was  published  by  subscription  as  the 
best  means  to  realize  money  from  the  publication 
for  the  sisters.  They  wished  me  to  dedicate  the 
volume  to  Miss  O'Hagan,  our  "Mother  Abbess," 
and  I  was  very  willing  to  do  so.  But  an  obstacle 
arose  from  an  unexpected  quarter. 

A  priest,  an  English  convert,  who  happened 
to  be  then  officiating  in  Dublin,  and  had  recom- 
mended me  to  visit,  and  subsequently  to  enter 
Newry  Convent,  had  written  a  short  preface  to 
the  work.  This  preface  was  quite  unnecessary,  but 


A  JEALOUS  PRIEST.  37 

the  sisters  thought  that  he  expected  the  compli- 
ment to  be  paid  to  him  of  asking  him  to  write  it. 
He  heard  of  my  intention  to  dedicate  the  book  to 
Miss  O'Hagan,  and  his  anger  was  the  first  painful 
intimation  I  had  that  priests  were,  after  all,  human. 
Still,  with  all  possible  allowance  for  poor  humanity, 
I  certainly  have  met  in  some  priests,  instances  of 
almost  childish  intolerance  and  readiness  to  take 
offence,  such  as  are  far  less  common  among  men 
of  the  world.  A  large  measure  of  allowance  must 
be  made  for  their  education  and  their  very  pecu- 
liar circumstances,  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  one 
might  fairly  expect  that  the  stupendous  graces  of 
their  ordination  and  their  mode  of  life  would  help 
to  make  them  as  truly  fathers  in  heart  as  they 
are  in  name. 

I  can,  however,  only  relate  facts  as  they  hap- 
pened. This  good  priest  had  acquired  a  small 
literary  reputation  for  writing  little  sketches  of 
the  lives  of  the  saints  ;  his  classical  education, 
which,  as  he  was  a  convert,  was,  necessarily,  far 
above  that  of  the  ordinary  run  of  priests,  gave 
him  special  knowledge,  and  he  used  it  well.  He 
had  an  idea  that  he  could  in  some  way  claim  the 
authorship,  or  at  least  the  credit  and  chief  share 
in  my  work,  and  he  thought  if  I  dedicated  it  to 
any  one,  his  claim  of  authorship  would  be  less- 
ened. As  obviously,  it  was  the  author's  right  to 


3  g  THE  NUN  OF  KEN  MA  RE. 

dedicate  her  works,  and  as  I  was  the  author  and 
the  sisters  the  publishers,  the  latter  had  their  way. 
I  did  not  interfere,  but  I  was  never  forgiven, 
though  I  was  not  the  guilty  party.  I  fear  I  must 
say  too,  that  I  have  found,  and  I  only  hope  I  am 
more  unfortunate  than  others,  that  priests  are  the 
very  last  persons  who  will  forgive  either  a  wilful 
or  an  imaginary  offence. 

My  next  clerical  experience  in  connection  with 
this  work  was  equally  unpleasant.  A  Franciscan 
priest  in  New  York  managed  to  get  an  advance 
copy  of  the  book.  He  republished  it  without  the 
slightest  reference  to  me,  or  the  slightest  acknowl- 
edgment, and  never  even  condescended  to  reply 
to  my  expostulations.  With  this  solitary  excep- 
tion I  met  with  universal  consideration  on  the 
part  of  American  publishers,  and  have  been 
very  liberally  repaid  when  my  works  were  re- 
produced. 

At  my  profession  the  usual  time  was  also  short- 
ened, but  in  this  case  I  made  no  objection.  I 
wished  most  earnestly  to  dedicate  my  life  to  God, 
in  this  way,  and  my  experience  so  far  had  not 
been  altogether  an  unhappy  one. 

The  little  domestic  jars  which  I  witnessed  while 
at  Newry,  were  only  such  as  might  occur  in  any 
family,  and  there  were  some  most  excellent  and 
edifying  religious  in  the  community.  I  believe 


LETTER  FROM  POPE   PIUS  IX. 


39 


had  I  remained  there,  my  life  would  have  been  one 
of  comparative  peace  and  happiness. 

I  may  give  here  another  of  many  instances  of 
the  troubles  I  was  made  to  suffer  by  Roman  Cath- 
olic priests  in  connection  with  my  literary  work. 
They  are  of  course,  with  rare  exceptions,  protected 
by  the  bishops,  no  matter  what  they  do,  as  this 
work  will  show  by  evidence  past  dispute.  The 
Roman  Catholic  bishop  exacts  the  most  abject 
submission  to  himself  from  the  priest  ;  but  in  re- 
turn he  puts  the  shield  of  his  protection,  in  a  way 
which  no  Catholic  dare  dispute,  over  the  actions  of 
the  priest,  a  fact  which  will  explain  many  matters 
which  are  not  easily  understood  by  those  who  have 
not  had  experience. 

While  in  Kenmare  I  wrote  a  life  of  St.  Patrick, 
the  great  saint  of  the  Irish  people.  The  compli- 
mentary Apostolic  letter  which  I  received  for  this 
from  Pope  Pius  IX.  is  too  long  to  insert  here 
in  full,  but  it  will  be  found  in  the  appendix.  I 
give  a  brief  extract  from  it  here,  — 

[EXTRACT  FROM  THE  APOSTOLIC  LETTER  OF  POPE 
Pius  IX.,  TO  SISTER  M.  FRANCIS  CLARE.] 

"  75?  Our  Beloved  Daughter  in  Christ,  MARY  FRANCIS  CLARE,  of 
the  Sisters  of  Saint  Clare,  Pius  P.  P.  IX. :  — 

"  BELOVED  DAUGHTER  IN  CHRIST,  —  Health  and 
Apostolic  Benediction.  We  congratulate  you,  be- 


40 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


loved  daughter  in  Christ,  on  having  completed  a 
long  and  difficult  work  which  seemed  to  be  above 
woman's  strength,  with  a  success  that  has  justly 
earned  the  applause  of  the  pious  and  the  learned. 
We  rejoice,  not  only  because  you  have  promoted 
by  this  learned  and  eloquent  volume  the  glory  of 
the  illustrious  Apostle  of  Ireland,  St.  Patrick,  but 
also  because  you  have  deserved  well  of  the  whole 
Church  ;  for  in  recording  the  actions  of  so  great  a 
man,  you  have  placed  before  the  eyes  of  the  world 
the  benefits  received  through  the  Catholic  religion 
so  clearly,  that  they  can  no  longer  be  questioned. 
We  certainly  augur  this  successful  issue  from  your 
labor  ;  and  at  the  same  time  we  impart  to  you  and 
to  your  sisters,  most  lovingly,  the  Apostolic  Bene- 
diction, as  an  earnest  of  God's  favor  and  a  pledge 
of  our  good-will. 

"  Given  at  Rome,  at  St.  Peter's,  the  6th  October, 
1770,  the  twenty-fifth  year  of  our  Pontificate. 

"  Pius  P.  P.  IX." 

An  English,  or  Irish,  or  Canadian  priest  (for  he 
claimed  various  nationalities),  did  not  agree  with 
the  pope,  and  thought  he  could  write  a  much  bet- 
ter work  himself ;  of  course  as  he  was  a  priest,  he 
could  easily  run  mine  out  of  the  market.  He 
also  had  very  wealthy  and  influential  relatives, 
who,  it  was  whispered,  were  anxious  to  procure  his 
advancement  in  the  church.  They  were  people 
of  humble  origin  who  had  made  their  money  in 


MY  LIFE  OF  ST.  PA  TRICK.  ^ 

Ireland  and  could  afford  to  spend  it  in  England 
for  the  benefit  of  their  relative.  I  need  scarcely 
say  that  I  knew  this  priest  had  a  right  to  publish 
a  book  in  opposition  to  mine,  if  he  thought  he 
could  advance  his  interests  by  doing  so  ;  but  cer- 
tainly I  had  a  right  to  expect  he  would  acknowl- 
edge his  obligations  to  mine,  but  this  he  carefully 
avoided  doing.  I  think  I  may  say  for  my  Life  of 
St.  Patrick,  that  it  was  the  first  life  of  that  Saint 
which  could  lay  claim  to  be  the  result  of  original 
research ;  all  previous  lives  had  been  made  up 
from  each  other  without  any  reference  to  valuable 
documents  which  were  not  generally  accessible, 
and  moreover  were  written  in  very  ancient  Celtic, 
which  could  not  even  be  read,  except  by  a  few 
Celtic  scholars,  who  had  studied  it  for  philological 
research. 

Most  of  these  scholars  were  German,  but  there 
was  one  eminent  Irish  Celtic  scholar  who  trans- 
lated a  very  important  document  for  me  which  I 
published  in  this  work  ;  and  which  probably  would 
never  have  been  published  if  I  had  not  brought  it 
out.  A  fact  which  was  very  well  known  and  ap- 
preciated by  many  literary  men.  I  had  protected 
my  copyright,  but  of  course  this  made  no  differ- 
ence when  a  priest  was  concerned  ;  I  was  indeed 
unfortunate  every  way  with  this  book,  for  a  large 
edition  of  it  was  sent  for  sale  to  Mr.  P.  Ponahoe, 


42  THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE, 

of  Boston  and  was  burned  in  the  great  fire  at  Bos- 
ton, in  1872. 

The  work  of  this  priest  which  was  taken  almost 
literally  from  mine,  without  the  least  acknowledg- 
ment, has  of  course  superseded  mine.  In  this  case 
I  felt  the  loss  to  the  charity  for  which  the  profits 
of  my  literary  labors  was  devoted,  much  more  than 
the  injustice  to  my  literary  reputation.  I  must 
say  also,  that  loving  the  Roman  Catholic  church, 
to  which  I  have  given  such  practical  proofs  of  my 
devotion,  it  has  always  been  a  grievous  pain  to  me 
to  see  any  falling  from  the  high  ideal  which  it  pro- 
fesses and  of  the  practice  of  which  I  have  seen  so 
little.  As  soon  as  Father  Morris's  Life  of  St. 
Patrick  was  published,  I  wrote  to  the  press  show- 
ing how  he  had  compiled  it  from  mine,  and  that  he 
had  not  done  me  even  the  literary  courtesy  of  an 
acknowledgment  ;  but  as  usual  the  priest  was 
protected  by  ecclesiastical  authority  and  I  was 
silenced. 

In  1878,  I  published  the  lives  of  two  other 
famous  Irish  saints,  Saint  Columba  and  Saint 
Bridget,  and  received  the  following  approbation  of 
my  work. 

"  IRISH  COLLEGE,  ROME,  May  29,  1878. 
"  MY  DEAR  SISTER,  —  I  arn  happy  to  state  that 
Mgr.   Kirby  presented  to-day,  in  my  name,  your 
life  of  St.  Patrick,  St.  Bridget,  and  St.  Columba,  to 


APPROVAL   FROM  CARDINAL    CULLEN. 


43 


His  Holiness,  who,  in  return,  sends  you  his  thanks 
and  his  best  blessing.  His  Holiness  wishes  you 
every  success  in  your  literary  labors,  hoping  that 
they  may  be  useful  to  religion,  and  contribute  to 
the  salvation  of  souls. 

"  His  Holiness  was  greatly  pleased  with  the  way 
in  which  the  life  of  St.  Patrick  was  brought  out. 

"  Wishing  you  and  all  your  pious  community 
every  blessing,  I  remain, 

"  Yours  faithfully, 

"PAUL,  CARDINAL  CULLEN." 

To  SISTER  MARY  FRANCIS  CLARE,  Convent  of  Poor  Clares,  Ken- 
mare,  Co.  Kerry,  Ireland. 

Cardinal  Cullen  always  encouraged  my  work,  he 
was  a  man  of  some  education  and  very  conscien- 
tious. His  successor,  Cardinal  McCabe,  was  a 
very  different  character. 

But  I  soon  found  that  these  approbations  were 
not  any  advantage  to  me ;  on  the  contrary  they 
only  intensified  dislike  to  myself,  and  created  jeal- 
ousy. It  was  long  before  I  could  realize  that  the 
Holy  Father's  approbation  was  practically  of  no 
value,  unless  it  suited  the  plans  and  purposes  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  bishops.  Every  one  knows 
how  the  Jesuits  were  approved  or  disapproved  just 
as  it  suited  the  powerful  bishops  of  their  times. 
Even  in  our  own  day  and  in  this  very  year,  we 
have  had  evidence  in  the  case  of  Rosmini,  and 


44 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


Lassere,  how  influence  can  be  brought  on  the  pope, 
to  make  him  change  the  most  strongly  expressed 
approvals.  And  all  the  past  history  of  the  Holy 
See  goes  to  prove  the  same  thing,  though  it  is 
sometimes  found  convenient  to  forget  it. 

During  my  novitiate  I  had  one  very  unpleasant 
experience  ;  I  brought  a  good  deal  of  money  with 
me  .into  the  convent,  and  certain  buildings  and 
alterations  were  going  on  which  embarrassed  the 
superioress  (Miss  O'Hagan)  considerably.  She 
was  a  very  nervous  and  delicate  woman,  of  a  very 
highly  strung  organization,  and  felt  dissension  and 
trouble  keenly.  I  was  greatly  attached  to  her, 
and  was  always  very  careless  about  money,  so  when 
a  little  pressure  was  brought  to  bear  on  me,  I  very 
readily  offered  to  give  what  I  could  to  relieve  her 
embarrassment.  The  sister  who  was  mistress  of 
novices,  however,  took  a  different  view  of  the  case. 
She  told  me  that  she  considered  the  expenditure 
unwise,  that  no  novice  should  be  asked  for,  or  even 
allowed  to  give  any  money  under  such  circum- 
stances, and  that  she  herself  had  been  greatly  dis- 
tressed and  annoyed  by  appeals  made  to  her  own 
friends  on  this  head. 

Although  long  years  have  passed,  I  remember 
every  word  and  every  incident  as  if  it  had  hap- 
pened only  yesterday.  It  was  my  first  experience 
of  real  dissension  and  trouble  in  a  convent. 


AN  ANGRY  SISTER. 


45 


I  believe  this  sister  must  have  spoken  to  the 
bishop,  who  was  also  our  confessor.  The  imme- 
diate result  was  that  the  bishop  gaye  peremptory 
orders  to  stop  the  buildings  and  alterations,  and 
told  me  that  he  positively  forbade  my  giving  or 
advancing  any  money.  As  usual,  I  was  a  victim 
in  an  affair  in  which  I  had  never  interfered  in  one 
way  or  the  other,  —  save  only  to  help  as  far  as  I 
could. 

The  sister  who,  as  remarked  before,  had  so  much 
trouble  with  her  brother,  had  formed  a  passionate 
attachment  to  Miss  O'Hagan,  and  was-  her  chief 
favorite  now,  turned  on  me  as  if  I  had  been  the 
cause  of  stopping  the  work.  Her  language  and 
her  passion  I  shall  never  forget,  and  I  believe  she 
never  forgave  me  for  what  she  chose  to  imagine  I 
had  done.  It  was  useless  to  reason  with  her  then 
or  at  a  later  period.  When  in  Kenmare  she  caused 
me  much  trouble  by  the  same  overbearing  temper- 
ament. I  learned  later  on,  that  affection  for  the 
superior  is  often  the  cause  of  dissension  in  con- 
vents, and  leads  to  jealousy  and  bitterness  which, 
for  obvious  reasons,  are  more  likely  to  be  kept  up 
in  such  places  than  in  the  outer  world.  This  sister 
thought  that  I  had  told  the  bishop  about  the  money, 
and  so  brought  the  trouble  upon  Miss  O'Hagan, 
but  I  never  mentioned  the  subject  to  him ;  he 
heard  it  from  others  and  then  spoke  of  it  to  me. 


46  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

It  is  commonly  supposed  that  those  who  devote 
themselves  to  God  in  a  religious  house  are  freer 
from  temptations  and  trials  than  persons  who  live 
in  the  world.  This  is  far  from  being  the  case  ; 
no  doubt  every  state  of  life  has  its  own  special 
trials  and  temptations,  but  there  is  a  difference 
both  in  degree  and  in  kind. 

Nor  is  there  any  attempt  to  deceive  sisters  on 
this  subject.  A  good  mistress  of  novices  will 
make  it  her  first  duty  to  point  out  the  difficulties 
and  temptations  of  this  kind  of  life  and  to  prepare 
those  under  her  charge  for  them.  And  in  the 
many  books  written  during  centuries  of  the 
church's  history  which  treat  of  the  religious  life, 
whether  for  men  or  women,  these  special  trials 
are  always  noted. 

The  day  before  my  profession,  I  made,  as  was 
usual,  a  deed  of  renunciation  of  all  my  worldly 
property.  I  cannot  now  remember  the  exact 
amount.  I  know  that  I  did  just  whatever  I  was 
asked  to  do,  and  I  should  not  allude  to  the  subject 
except  that  it  has  an  important  bearing  on  a  grave 
act  of  injustice,  which  the  Kenmare  sisters  and 
the  Bishop  of  Kerry  tried  to  accomplish  at  a  later 
period. 

A  certain  sum  of  money,  according  to  the  usual 
custom,  was  placed  in  the  bank  with  the  other 
moneys  belonging  to  the  convent,  the  interest  of 


ENDOWING   THE   CONVENT. 


47 


which  was  to  serve  for  my  support.  This  was 
right  and  usual.  It  was  suggested  to  me  also  to 
leave  a  certain  sum,  the  interest  of  which  was  to 
be  used  for  having  masses  for  my  intention.  This 
point  should  be  noted  as  I  shall  have  to  return  to 
it  again.  A  further  sum  was  placed  in  the  bank, 
the  interest  of  which  was  to  be  used  for  the  sup- 
port of  some  sister  who  might  be  considered  a 
desirable  addition  to  the  community,  but  who 
might  not  have  the  money  necessary  to  be  re- 
ceived. What  remained,  was  spent  on  the  build- 
ing, and  on  the  church  attached  to  the  convent, 
for  which  I  procured  stained-glass  windows  and 
many  other  ornaments. 

All  this  was  done  by  deed  of  gift,  so  as  to  leave 
me  no  power  of  altering  the  agreement.  I  think 
in  this  matter  I  was  not  treated  quite  fairly,  as  I 
had  no  idea  of  the  stringently  binding  nature  of 
the  documents.  I  concerned  myself  but  little, 
except  to  try  and  fulfil  my  religious  obligations  to 
the  best  of  my  power,  and  to  please  those  who 
then  at  least  promised  to  be  true  and  faithful 
friends  for  life.  I  could  not  then  believe  that 
either  priests  or  sisters  could  act  unjustly.  Was 
not  the  church  to  which  they  belonged,  the  church 
of  saints  ?  Was  it  not  the  holy  Catholic  church  ? 
Had  I  not  a  right  to  expect  that  even  if  there 
were  imperfections  and  stains  such  as  must  be  in 


48  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

all  human  undertakings,  that  there  they  should 
at  least  be  few  ? 

If  I  dreamed  a  happy  dream  and  came  to  a  sor- 
rowful awakening  had  I  not  some  foundation  for 
the  dream  and  some  right  to  expect  its  realization  ? 
Perhaps  I  was  singularly  unfortunate  in  my  per- 
sonal experience  of  sisters  and  bishops,  yet  I  know 
the  life  histories  of  others  which  have  not  been 
altogether  dissimilar  from  my  own. 

In  the  month  of  October  of  the  following  year,  a 
visit  was  received  at  the  convent  at  Newry,  which 
resulted  in  a  complete  change  of  my  life  and  plans, 
a  change  which  I  could  not  have  anticipated  when 
I  made  my  vows. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

GOING   TO    KENMARE. 

Archdeacon  O'Sullivan  Desires  a  Foundation  at  Kenmare — His  Noble 
Character — The  Kenmare  Sisters  —  Miss  O'Hagan  Undertakes  the 
Foundation — Dr.  Moriarty,  the  New  Bishop  —  Lord  and  Lady  Ken- 
mare—The  Bishop's  Mistake  —  Status  of  Priests  in  Ireland  —  Ex- 
posed to  Social  and  Political  Seductions —  Bishop  Moriarty  Won  Over 
—  Life  at  Kenmare  —  Choir  and  Lay  Sisters  —  Unfortunate  Selection 
of  New  Sisters  —  My  Literary  Work  Continues. 

IN  the  early  part  of  the  month  of  October, 
Archdeacon  O'Sullivan,  the  parish  priest  of  Ken- 
mare County,  Kerry,  came  to  Newry  Convent  to 
ask  if  some  of  the  sisters  would  make  a  founda- 
tion in  his  parish.  The  archdeacon  was,  indeed, 
a  noble  specimen  of  an  Irish  priest.  The  good 
of  his  people  and  the  advancement  of  his  church 
were  his  only  objects. 

He  had  saved  money,  and  had  been  left  some 
more,  by  a  deceased  bishop,  for  the  purpose  of 
building  a  church  and  convent,  and  all  his  ener- 
gies were  bent  on  this  one  object.  He  was  a  man 
who  esteemed  education  very  highly.  He  was  an 
excellent  Latin  scholar,  and  though  he  had  not 
the  advantage  of  a  cultivated  English  style,  he 
had  made  a  translation  of  Bellarmine's  well-known 

49 


50  THE  NUN  OF  KEN  MA  RE. 

"  Commentary  on  the  Psalms,"  and  won  approval 
by  his  rugged  exactness  and  force  of  diction. 

His  memory  will  be  forever  held  in  benediction. 
For  myself  I  can  only  say  I  lost  in  him  the  kind- 
est of  friends  and  the  best  of  fathers.  But  I 
anticipate ;  yet,  I  may  be  forgiven,  for  his  memory 
brings  back  the  few  happy  recollections  of  my 
religious  life. 

Some  sisters  had  preceded  us  in  Kenmare. 
They  belonged  to  an  Irish  order  founded  about 
the  same  time  as  the  Sisters  of  Mercy.  But  these 
sisters  (the  Presentation  Nuns,  as  they  were 
called)  did  not  spread  as  rapidly  or  as  widely  as 
the  Sisters  of  Mercy.  They  are  an  inclosed, 
but  not  a  contemplative  order,  and  hence  were 
in  some  sort  an  anomaly,  like  the  Irish  Poor 
Clares  to  whom  I  belonged.  Strangely  enough, 
the  Irish  Presentation  Sisters  kept  a  far  stricter 
inclosure,  at  least  in  Ireland,  than  the  Poor 
Clares. 

These  sisters  for  several  reasons  did  not  suit 
Archdeacon  O'Sullivan's  views.  He  was  very 
anxious  about  the  education  of  his  people,  and  I 
think  their  teaching  was  not  considered  up  to  the 
mark,  and  our  schools  in  Newry  had  a  very  high 
name.  Besides  this,  Father  John,  as  Archdeacon 
O'Sullivan  was  always  called,  had  a  weakness, 
who  has  not?  He  saw  that  Miss  O'Hagan's 


MISS  O'HAGAN'S   CONNECTIONS.  51 

brother  was  a  rising  man,  and  rising  rapidly.* 
He  was  not  then  a  "  Lord,"  but  he  was  on  a  fair 
way  to  become  one.  It  was  the  policy  of  the 
English  government  to  advance  a  few  men  like 
Mr.  O'Hagan,  who  had  just  enough  nationality  to 
be  popular  to  a  certain  extent  with  the  Irish 
people,  and  who  had  quite  sufficient  care  for  their 
own  advancement  to  make  their  nationality  sub- 
servient to  their  personal  interests.  Miss  O'Hagan 
was  then  just  the  person  to  suit  the  good  arch- 
deacon's views  in  every  way,  and  as  he  was  a  man 
of  business  and  quick  action,  he  decided  to  come 
himself  and  secure  his  object. 

There  were  many  difficulties  raised  on  the  part 
of  the  sisters.  Their  nominal  inclosure  was  no 
obstacle  to  new  foundations,  yet  it  seemed  to 
them  as  if  the  world  must  come  to  an  end,  as  far 
as  they  were  concerned,  if  changes  were  made. 
Miss  O'Hagan  was  superioress,  but  her  health  was 
so  bad  she  seldom  left  her  room,  except  for  a  few 
hours  in  the  day,  and  though  her  younger  sisters 
were  much  attached  to  her,  she  was  no  favorite 
with  the  older  ones,  for  many  reasons. 

*The  English  government  is  always  ajixious,  for  political  pur- 
poses, to  encourage  Roman  Catholics  by  bestowing  titles  on  men 
who  have  shown  sufficient  qualified  patriotism  to  make  them 
acceptable  to  the  Irish  people,  no  matter  how  humble  their  origin 
may  be,  and  who  are  henceforward  bound  to  be  loyal  by  their 
acceptance  of  rank  or  office. 


t;  2  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

At  last  all  was  settled.  For  myself,  my  wish 
would  have  been  to  remain  in  Newry  Convent. 
The  sister  who  had  been  my  mistress  of  novices 
was  a  truly  good  religious.  She  was  made  superi- 
oress in  Miss  O'Hagan's  place,  and  was  bettei 
liked  by  some  of  the  older  sisters.  I  believe  Miss 
O'Hagan  was  sincerely  and  honestly  attached  to 
me.  She  certainly  was  most  anxious  that  I  should 
make  the  Kenmare  foundation  with  her.  Some 
of  the  Newry  sisters  were  equally  anxious  that  I 
should  remain  there,  so  that  I  was  strongly  pressed 
on  both  sides.  My  love  for  Miss  O'Hagan,  and 
her  entreaties,  prevailed,  and  I  decided  to  go  with 
her. 

I  concerned  myself  very  little  about  money 
matters,  but  Miss  O'Hagan  took  care  to  take 
sisters  who  had  money,  and  to  secure  all  she 
could  of  what  I  had  brought  into  the  convent  at 
Newry.  I  speak  of  this  also,  only  because  it 
throws  a  light  on  future  events. 

Amongst  other  moneys  which  I  had  given,  she 
got  the  money  invested  for  masses  ;  as  she  said, 
that,  of  course,  the  masses  should  be  said  for  me 
where  I  was  going.  For  myself,  I  should  have 
been  quite  as  wells  content  to  have  had  them  said 
in  Newry  as  in  Kenmare,  and  I  am  quite  sure  the 
obligation  would  have  been  fulfilled  there  with 
scrupulous  exactness.  It  will  be  seen  later  how 


LEAVING   NEWRY. 


53 


I  was  treated  in  this  matter  by  the  Kenmare 
sisters. 

We  left  Newry,  I  think,  on  the  2Oth  of  October, 
1861.  I  know  we  arrived  in  Kenmare  on  the 
24th.  That  day  being  one  of  special  devotion  in 
the  Catholic  church,  it  was  impressed  on  my 
memory.  As  far  as  I  was  myself  concerned,  I  had 
no  particular  regrets  in  leaving  Newry.  I  had 
not  been  there  long  enough  to  have  formed  any 
strong  attachment  either  to  the  place  or  to  any 
person.  Several  other  sisters  came  with  us.  One 
returned  to  Newry  in  a  few  months,  not  finding 
the  sisters'  life  at  Kenmare  at  all  like  what  she 
had  left.  Another  sister  who,  like  myself,  became 
a  special  object  of  dislike  and  persecution  by  our 
ecclesiastical  superior,  and  by  the  young  sisters 
who  had  joined  us  after  we  came  to  Kenmare,  re- 
turned to  Newry  Convent  also.  This  occurred  not 
long  before  I  left  Kenmare,  but  as  these  ladies  had 
wealthy  and  influential  Catholic  relatives,  neither 
ecclesiastics  nor  sisters  could  venture  to  criticise 
their  conduct  unfavorably. 

On  our  way  to  Kenmare  we  stopped  a  day  and 
a  night  at  the  convent  of  the  Irish  Poor  Clares, 
in  Dublin.  Newry  Convent  had  been  founded 
from  it  years  before.  We  then  travelled  to  Kil- 
larney,  where  we  were  received  in  the  bishop's 
palace,  a  magnificent  building,  in  strange  contrast 


54 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


to  the  misery,  dirt,  and  wretchedness  around.  And 
here  I  had  my  first  real  introduction  to  Irish  pov- 
erty. Having  spent  my  early  life  in  England,  and 
amongst  those  whose  prejudices  were  as  anti-Irish 
as  they  were  anti-Catholic,  I  had  much  to  learn  as 
to  the  state  of  Ireland,  and  being  keenly  observ- 
ant I  learned  quickly. 

My  experience  of  Catholic  bishops  and  priests 
had  been,  on  the  whole,  favorable.  Certainly,  I 
wanted  nothing  from  them,  and  I  was  able  to  do 
a  great  deal  for  them.  As  a  convert  I  was  very 
warmly  welcomed  into  the  church,  as  I  have 
already  said,  and  most  of  those  ecclesiastics  whom 
I  met  were  gentlemen  by  birth  and  education,  and 
had  been  trained  in  the  Episcopal  church. 

I  found  in  our  new  bishop,  Dr.  Moriarty,  a  man 
who  was  their  equal  in  culture  and  refinement,  if 
not  in  birth.  I  do  not  think  it  would  have  been 
possible  for  him  to  have  done  an  act  of  injustice  to 
a  sister,  or  indeed  to  any  one.  Unfortunately,  his 
real  merits  and  goodness  were  overshadowed,  as 
far  as  the  Irish  people  were  concerned,  by  political 
considerations.  He  certainly  leaned  to  the  cause 
of  the  rich  and  the  great,  and  he  made  one  unfor- 
tunate speech,  which  I  always  believed  was  taken 
in  a  sense  different  from  what  he  had  actually  in- 
tended. But,  all  the  same,  the  evil  was  done. 

Most  assuredly,  there  can  be  no  greater  danger 


LORD  KENMAR&S  INFLUENCE. 


55 


to  the  cause  of  religion  than  when  the  poor  sus- 
pect those  who,  from  their  profession,  should  be 
especially  their  friends,  of  caring  more  for  the  rich 
than  for  them.  Appearances  may  be  false,  but 
the  poor  naturally  judge  by  them,  and  perhaps  not 
without  reason.  It  so  happened  that  Lord  Ken- 
mare's  family  were  Catholics,  and  that  they 
owned  a  considerable  portion  of  the  land  around 
Killarney.  The  family  certainly  spent  very  little 
time  or  money  in  Ireland,  and  did  very  little  for 
their  tenants ;  but  at  this  time  the  land  agitation 
had  not  begun,  and  there  were  not  the  same 
causes  of  bitterness  that  now  exist.  Bishop  Mori- 
arty  was  a  man  of  very  courtly  presence,  a  splen- 
did conversationalist,  social,  and  with  that  tone  of 
dignity  which  well  became  his  ecclesiastical  char- 
acter. He  would  have  been  an  acquisition  in  any 
society;  and  Lady  Kenmare,  who  was  fastidious 
and  English,  was  only  too  glad  to  have  him  for  a 
frequent  guest  at  her  dinner  table.  Whether  her 
English  visitors  were  Catholic  or  Protestant,  she 
could  introduce  them  with  satisfaction  to  the 
courtly  favorite.  Naturally,  the  bishop  gravitated 
to  the  wealthy  and  influential  classes ;  naturally, 
too,  his  sympathies  were  with  them.  God  help 
our  poor  human  nature,  and  God  help  those  who 
are  easily  influenced  in  their  judgment  by  exterior 
circumstances.  The  state  of  Ireland  should  be 


56  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

known  personally  to  be  understood ;  the  hard  feel- 
ings which  existed,  the  internal  bitterness  which 
the  people  feel  when  any  ecclesiastic  takes  the  part 
of  the  landlord  class,  or  in  any  way  even  appears 
to  sympathize  with  it. 

But  Bishop  Moriarty  did  more  than  this.  On 
one  public  occasion  he  denounced  the  Fenian  ris- 
ing in  scathing  language,  and  amongst  other 
words  used  an  expression  which  has  become  histo- 
rical, "Hell,"  he  cried  out,  "is  not  hot  enough  or 
eternity  long  enough  to  punish  their  crimes." 

I  believe  that  when  the  bishop  used  this  expres- 
sion he  alluded  to  the  class  of  informers  who  have 
been  the  curse  of  Ireland.  Men,  who  as  has  been 
fully  proved  in  state  trials,  deliberately  profaned 
the  Sacrament  for  the  vile  purpose  of  betraying 
their  fellow-creatures  and  fellow-countrymen.  In- 
deed, men  were  hung  more  than  once  on  the  per- 
jured evidence  of  those  wretches,  and  enthusiastic 
boys  were  led  into  the  meshes  of  the  law  to  afford 
subjects  for  the  vile  greed  of  their  temptors. 

The  bishop's  expression,  however  meant,  was 
certainly  taken  as  denouncing  any  attempt  to  free 
Ireland  or  to  oppose  English  rule.  And  the 
result  was  a  terrible  blow  to  religion.  I  know, 
because  I  have  heard  it  on  evidence  that  I  cannot 
doubt,  that  men  who  had  once  been  devoted 
Catholics  not  only  ceased  to  frequent  the  sacra- 


STATUS   OF   THE   CLERGY. 


57 


ments,  but  they  even  cursed  their  bishop  as  he 
passed. 

I  believe  the  spirit  which  has  resulted  in  mak- 
ing Kerry  remarkable  for  outrages  even  now  was 
fostered,  if  it  was  not  caused,  by  the  bishop's  sup- 
posed or  real  indifference  to  the  sufferings  of  his 
people.  This  is  a  fact  which  can  be  easily  ex- 
plained. For  long  centuries  the  people  and  the 
priests  were  hunted  and  oppressed  alike.  The 
priest  ministered  to  the  people.  He  gave  them 
all  he  could  of  spiritual  help  and  comfort,  the  only 
consolation  they  had.  For  them  he  made  every 
sacrifice ;  but  then  he  was  also  one  of  them- 
selves. 

The  rich  or  higher  classes  of  Catholics  who  had 
been  landowners  changed  their  religion  with  very 
little  hesitation,  when  they  found  that  by  so  doing 
they  secured  their  estates,  while  they  hated,  de- 
spised, and  feared  the  poor.  The  poor,  for  whom 
they  in  turn  had  no  love,  in  their  turn  looked  upon 
them  as  apostates.  For  long  years,  on  the  other 
hand,  priests  and  people  had  one  common  status 
in  society;  they  were  equally  despised  and  equally 
persecuted.  But  a  time  came  when  to  be  Catholic 
and  to  be  rebel  were  no  longer  convertible  terms. 
Then  came  the  divergence,  —  the  divergence  which 
nearly  became  a  fatal  division.  Within  recent 
memory  the  people  were  still  oppressed,  but  the 


58  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE, 

priests  were  no  longer  persecuted.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  became  the  policy  of  the  English  rulers  of 
Ireland  to  court  the  priest  in  public  and  in  private  ; 
to  pay  him  the  compliment  of  an  invitation  to 
dinner  ;  to  give  a  liberal  donation  to  his  church  or 
his  schools.  In  fact,  the  priest,  and  above  all  the 
bishop,  was  no  longer  an  object  of  persecution ; 
he  was  a  power  on  whom  a  great  deal  depended, 
and  he  was  treated  accordingly. 

It  is  marvellous,  and  it  is  an  overwhelming  proof 
of  the  intensity  of  Irish  faith  and  nationality,  that 
so  few  priests  yielded  to  these  advances.  But 
the  bishop  was  the  great  object  of  attention.  He 
"  held  the  fort,"  and  those  who  needed  his  services 
knew  his  value  and  his  power. 

And  Bishop  Moriarty  was  won  over  very  read- 
ily. His  very  nature  was  one  likely  to  yield 
easily  to  such  influences,  and  to  enjoy  the  society 
which  he  certainly  graced.  His  ideas  of  law  and 
order  were  the  ideas  of  the  English  government, 
and  of  their  representatives  in  Ireland  ;  but  he  was 
not  a  man  to  hoard  up  money,  or  to  turn  his  face 
from  the  sufferings  of  the  poor,  except  where  po- 
litical influences  blinded  his  perceptions.* 

By  the  earnest  desire  of  Miss  O'Hagan,  who 

*  I  may  mention  here,  as  an  instance  of  his  peculiarly  kind  disposi- 
tion, that  on  one  occasion,  when  one  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  in  Killarney 
was  moved  to  another  convent  for  change  of  air,  he  took  pains  to  see 
that  a  pet  dog  which  amused  her  in  her  illness  should  be  sent  after  her. 


LIFE  AT  KENMARE. 


59 


still  continued  superioress,  I  devoted  myself  to 
writing,  as  I  had  done  in  Newry. 

Several  young  girls  joined  our  sisters  at  this 
time,  but  they  were  of  an  entirely  different  class 
from  those  received  in  Newry  Convent,  —  where 
only  ladies  were  admitted,  except  as  lay  sisters,  — 
and  the  result  was  anything  but  desirable.  They 
were  girls  who  had  all  the  vanity  of  ignorance,  and  a 
little  education,  which  they  thought  was  very 
great. 

Kenmare  is  a  lovely  village,  three  hours'  drive 
from  Killarney,  which,  with  all  the  beauty  of  its 
scenery,  is  itself  little  better  than  a  village.  The 
very  few  gentlemen's  families  who  lived  in  or  near 
Kenmare  were  Protestants,  so  that  we  were 
obliged,  if  we  wished  to  increase  our  numbers,  to 
take  poor  girls  from  the  schools.  On  this  sub- 
ject I  must  say  a  few  words  of  explanation,  as 
it  had  a  serious  effect  on  my  future  troubles  and 
life. 

The  customs  of  the  religious  life  in  Ireland  and 
England  are  naturally  different  from  those  which 
obtain  in  America.  There  are  two  classes  of  sis- 
ters in  every  Irish  convent,  and  the  distinction 
between  the  two  is  very  broadly  marked.  These 
two  classes  of  sisters  are  called  choir  sisters  and 
lay  sisters.  The  distinction  is  also  observed  in 
some  American  convents,  and  it  seems  to  me 


60  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

strangely  out  of  place  in  a  country  which  boasts 
of  its  equality  as  well  as  of  its  liberty.  It 
must,  however,  be  understood  that  this  is  a 
mere  matter  of  opinion  on  my  part,  though 
it  is  an  opinion  founded  on  considerable  ex- 
perience. 

The  distinction  between  lay  and  choir  sisters  is 
one  fully  approved  by  the  Roman  Church,  and  has 
the  sanction  of  long  custom.  The  original  idea 
no  doubt  was  that  those  who  were  sufficiently 
educated  to  recite  the  long  Latin  offices  of  the 
Church,  as  is  still  the  custom  with  sisters  who 
belong  to  contemplative  orders,  should  be  spared 
the  fatigue  of  household  duties.  Also,  it  afforded 
to  devout  and  uneducated  girls,  and  to  those  who 
had  no  money,  an  opportunity  of  dedicating  them- 
selves to  the  service  of  the  Church  in  a  special 
manner. 

I  must  admit  for  myself  a  strong  leaning  to  the 
custom  of  apostolic  times,  where  all  things  were 
in  common,  and  when  no  distinction  was  between 
servant  and  master.  It  has  always  seemed  to  me 
that  in  the  religious  life,  where  a  community  of 
goods  is  practised,  that  it  should  be  complete,  and 
that  no  distinction  should  be  made  between  the 
wealthy  sister  and  the  poor  one. 

Distinctions  which  are  right  and  necessary  in 
the  world  are  certainly  not  necessary  in  a  convent, 


LAY  SISTERS.  6 1 

where  everything  is  planned  on  entirely  different 
principles.* 

As  a  matter  of  experience  I  found  the  plan  of 
having  lay  sisters,  as  they  are  called,  very  useless 
and  very  injurious.  On  going  to  Kenmare,  we 
decided  not  to  have  lay  sisters,  but  if  help  should 
be  necessary,  to  have  servants  in  preference.  Cer- 
tainly, this  plan  worked  very  much  better.  But  I 
think  it  is  better  still  to  receive  all  on  an  equality, 
and  to  divide  the  duties  and  employments  of  the 
convent,  according  to  the  capacity  of  each ;  so 
that  all,  like  sisters,  work  together  for  the  com- 
mon good  and  for  the  good  of  the  poor. 

Unfortunately  for  the  peace  of  the  Kenmare 
Convent,  some  girls  who  had  been  monitresses  in 
the  public  schools  were  received  by  us.  They 
were  entirely  ignorant  of  the  world,  had  never 
travelled  beyond  their  native  village,  and  had  all 
the  ignorant  ideas  and  pride,  almost  inseparable 
from  the  kind  of  education  which  they  had  re- 
ceived. 

The  education  given  to  the  poor,  and  especially 
to  the  Irish,  in  national  (public)  schools  is  deplor- 

*  In  some  religious  orders,  as  for  example  the  "  Sisters  of 
Mercy,"  the  lay  sisters  wear  a  different  dress,  and  even  in  the 
choir  have  to  wear  a  white  apron  as  a  badge  of  servitude.  Lay 
sisters  are  not  allowed  to  have  any  voice  in  the  affairs  of  the 
convent,  and  consequently  can  hardly  be  expected  to  take  the  in- 
terest of  those  who  have. 


62  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

able.  It  is  undoubtedly  the  cause  of  much  of  the 
trouble  which  is  felt  in  America,  arising  from 
want  of  proper  training  for  domestic  service.  As 
I  shall  enter  fully  into  this  subject,  when  I  explain 
my  reasons  for  founding  a  new  religious  order,  I 
allude  to  it  here  only  so  far  as  it  is  necessary  to 
explain  my  position  and  difficulties  in  Kenmare 
Convent. 

Two  of  the  girls  who  asked  to  enter  our  con' 
vent  were,  as  I  have  said,  monitresses  in  the 
national  school,  of  which  we  were  now  to  take 
charge.  They  had  been  made  a  good  deal  of  by 
the  sisters  who  had  preceded  us,  and  indeed,  had 
been  very  useful  to  them.  As  these  girls  had 
been  educated  from  childhood  in  the  public 
schools,  they  knew  the  system  thoroughly,  and 
were  quite  equal  to  the  mechanical  labor  of 
teaching  well. 

There  had  been  a  warm  feeling  in  the  parish 
against  our  coming,  which  was  concealed  from  us 
until  we  came,  and  our  position  was  a  difficult  one. 
Father  John,  however,  was  a  master  of  strategy, 
and  he  determined  to  secure  the  very  leaders  of 
the  revolt  to  our  interests,  and  the  ringleaders 
were  these  two  girls.  He  himself  brought  the 
girls  to  us,  and  believing  that  both  had  vocations 
for  the  religious  life,  he  induced  them  to  enter  our 
convent.  This  removed  some  difficulties  and  was 


WORK  A  T  KENMARE.  £3 

a  great  help  for  the  time,  but  the  result  was  not 
so  fortunate  for  the  future  peace  of  the  convent. 

The  daily  events  of  a  convent  life  leave  but 
little  to  record,  and  matters  of  great  interest  to 
the  sisters,  such  as  professions  and  school  festi- 
vals, are  of  little  importance  to  those  outside. 

At  this  period,  and  indeed  during  the  entire 
time  of  my  stay  in  Kenmare,  I  was  occupied  ex- 
clusively in  literary  work,  to  the  very  great  pecuni- 
ary benefit  of  the  sisters.  None  of  them  were 
able  to  lighten  my  labor  in  any  way  in  this  matter, 
but  there  was  a  way  in  which  I  could  have  been 
spared  a  great  deal  of  labor,  and  of  unnecessary 
labor,  which  was  positively  refused.  Of  this  I 
shall  say  no  more. 


CHAPTER   V. 

MY   LITERARY   WORK  AT   KENMARE. 

Success  of  my  Books  —  Blamed  for  Writing  Them  —  Illiberal  Criticisms 
—  Causes  of  Trouble  in  the  Church  —  Unjust  Interference  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Dublin  —  Letter  from  Bishop  Moriarty  —  His  Ap- 
proval of  my  Literary  Work. 

I  DO  not  care  to  enumerate  all  the  works  I 
wrote  in  Kenmare,  but  as  I  know  some  account  of 
this  subject  will  interest  many  readers,  I  cannot 
,  altogether  pass  it  over.  My  position  was  an  ex- 
ceptional one,  but  it  had  the  cordial  approval  of  my 
superiors.  Some  trouble  indeed  was  given  by 
priests  and  bishops  belonging  to  other  dioceses  of 
England  and  Ireland,  who  were  anxious  to  alter 
my  mode  of  life  according  to  their  own  particular 
views. 

When  I  was  at  Knock,  in  Ireland,  I  published 
some  devotions  and  prayers  written  by  St.  Alphon- 
sus  Liguori,  who  is  not  merely  a  canonized  saint, 
but  is  also  a  doctor  of  the  Roman  Church.  The 
devotions  were  at  once  attacked,  and  their  theo- 
logical correctness  was  most  severely  criticised  by 
a  priest  in  the  public  press.  The  good  priest 
thought  I  was  the  author.  I  replied  in  the  same 
paper  by  simply  referring  him  to  the  works  of  St. 

64 


ILLIBERAL    CRITICISM.  65 

Alphonsus,  from  which  the  devotions  which  he 
so  severely  criticised  were  taken,  word  for  word. 

Another  priest  who  blamed  me  for  writing  and 
for  the  large  circulation  of  my  books,  which  he 
said  brought  me  too  much  before  the  public,  ac- 
cused me  openly  of  heresy.  I  had  written  a 
Life  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  which  promised  to  have 
a  very  large  circulation,  and  in  this  I  said,  "  Did  not 
He  (our  Divine  Lord)  know  that  He  was  God  ?  " 
The  context  showed  plainly  that  I  knew  he  did 
know,  and  that  this  made  it  more  wonderful  that 
he  should  have  endured  the  sufferings  of  Geth- 
semane.  It  was,  however,  in  vain  that  I  explained 
my  obvious  meaning  and  pointed  to  similar  pas- 
sages even  in  other  Roman  Catholic  writers.  I 
was  put  to  a  heavy  expense  and  loss  by  being 
obliged  to  cancel  this  page,  and  the  injury  to  my 
literary  character  was  serious  ;  for  this  matter, 
trifling  as  it  was,  was  written  about  and  discussed 
with  a  large  margin  of  exaggeration,  and  yet  all 
the  trouble  was  caused  by  priests  who  had  no 
right  whatever  to  interfere  in  my  affairs. 

One  cause  of  trouble  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
church,  both  to  priests  and  sisters,  is  a  custom 
which  is  tolerated  if  it  is  not  encouraged  by  Roman 
Catholic  Bishops.  If  a  person  is  in  any  way  an- 
noyed or  supposes  himself  injured  by  priests  or 
sisters,  he  at  once  takes  his  revenge  by  "  writing 


66  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

to  their  bishop."  The  amount  of  petty  annoyances 
to  which  a  person  can  thus  be  subjected  can  be 
easily  understood.  These  complaints  are  received 
by  the  bishop  as  a  sort  of  compliment  to  his  posi- 
tion and  authority,  and  reference  to  him  is  received 
by  him  much  as  the  Pope  receives  the  requests  of 
kings  and  emperors  to  arbitrate  in  their  affairs. 
These  things  cause  many  serious  heartburnings 
which  are  never  known  outside,  because  the  least 
display  of  f  resentment  is  put  down  at  once,  and 
"called  disloyalty  to  the  church." 

During  this  period  I  was  publishing  my  books 
myself,  and  devoting  the  profits  to  our  convent. 
At  first  I  gave  employment  to  Romaa  Catholic 
printers  only,  but  I  soon  found  it  was  quite  hope- 
less to  get  them  to  do  business  steadily.  There 
are,  no  doubt,  some  quite  respectable  men  of  this 
class,  but  I  was  unable  to  find  them.  One  Roman 
Catholic  printer  came  down  to  Kenmarefrom  Dub- 
lin without  my  knowing  his  intention  until  he  ar- 
rived. (  He  implored  me  to  give  him  employment, 
which  I  was  most  unwilling  to  do  from  past  experi- 
ence, but  I  yielded  at  last  to  his  entreaties. 

Before  the  work  was  half  finished,  he  got  into 
financial  difficulties,  and  as  I  refused  to  pay  him 
until  his  order  was  completed,  he  went  to  the  then 
Archbishop  of  Dublin,  and  told  him  I  had  refused 
to  pay  him.  This  archbishop  had  no  right  to  in- 


LETTER  FROM  DR.   MO RT ARTY.  fy 

terfere  with  my  affairs,  as  I  did  not  belong  to  his 
diocese,  but  he  did  so  all  the  same,  and  wrote  a 
very  angry  letter  to  me,  without  waiting  to  inquire 
into  my  side  of  the  question.  I  was  very  angry, 
too,  which  I  suppose  I  ought  not  to  have  been, 
and  replied  by  telling  his  grace  what  I  thought  of 
his  uncalled-for  interference,  and  how  this  man 
had  forced  me  to  employ  him  and  then  broken  his 
own  agreement.  For  years  afterwards,  and  for  all  I 
know,  to  this  day,  this  incident  was  reported  all 
over  Ireland  and  England,  and  was  given  as 
another  proof  of  my  disposition  to  disagree  with 
ecclesiastical  authority. 

The  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Moriarty  was  my  bishop 
and  ecclesiastical  superior  for  many  years,  and  he 
wrote  the  following  letter  to  me  in  consequence  of 
the  annoying  interferences  and  criticisms,  blaming 
me  for  occupying  myself  in  literary  work  because 
I  was  a  sister  :  — 

"THE  PALACE,  KILT.ARNEY,  Oct.  24,  1876. 

"  MY  DEAR  SISTER  IN  CHRIST,  —  I  learn  that  you 
are  issuing  some  new  works,  and  some  new  editions 
of  those  already  published.  Your  literary  labors 
reflect  honor  on  your  convent,  on  your  order,  and 
on  your  diocese.  y 

"  But  I  rejoice  much  more  in  this,  that  you  are 
contributing  to  supply  some  of  our  greatest  needs 
—  a  Catholic  Literature.  I  know,  too,  that  the 


68  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

funds  realized  by  the  sale  of  your  works  are  exclu- 
sively devoted  to  the  service  of  religion. 

"Praying  God  to  bless  you,  and  to  preserve  your 
health  and  strength,  yours  sincerely  in  Christ, 

"fD.  MORIARTY. 

"  To  SISTER  M.  FRANCIS  CLARE,  Convent  of  Poor  Clares,  Ken- 
mare,  County  Kerry  " 

I  remember  the  occasion  of  this  letter.  I  had 
been  very  much  annoyed  by  attacks  made  on  me 
for  writing,  and  absurd  as  it  may  seem,  the  large 
circulation  of  my  books  was  made  a  special  ground 
of  censure.  Our  good  bishop  used  to  visit  Ken- 
mare  frequently,  and  on  this  occasion  I  spoke  to 
him  about  my  trouble.  He  opened  a  desk  which 
lay  on  the  table  near  him,  and  after  writing  the 
letter  given  above,  he  handed  it  to  me  for  publica- 
tion. 

I  knew  of  course,  very  well,  that  Bishop  Mori- 
arty  very  highly  approved  of  my  literary  work  ;  but 
in  the  difficulties  which  I  had  had  to  encounter, 
his  written  approbation,  and  one  so  plain  and  ex- 
plicit, was  a  great  consolation  to  me. 

It  is  quite  evident  that  if  every  sister  occupied 
her  time  in  writing  it  would  not  be  consistent  with 
the  object  of  a  sister's  life,  but  every  rule  has  its 
exception,  and  a  bishop  even  reproached  me  once 
with  occupying  myself  in  any  way  except  writing. 

He  said,  "  You  get  your  gift  from  God,  you  can- 


AN  AMUSING   CHARGE.  $g 

not  hand  it  down  to  your  children.  You  are  bound 
to  use  it  to  the  utmost." 

Nor  is  this  occupation  out  of  harmony  with  the 
religious  life.  On  the  contrary,  it  was  one  of  the 
chief  occupations  of  some  of  the  most  saintly  re- 
ligious. Montalembert,  in  his  "  Monks  of  the 
West,"  gives  examples  of  sisters  who  excelled  in 
every  branch  of  literature,  as  linguists,  as  writers, 
as  historians,  as  scientists,  and  as  in  the  case  of 
St.  Catharine  of  Siena,  as  political  writers. 

I  may  add  here  another  amusing  story  of  my 
ecclesiastical  critics.  When  I  was  in  Rome,  the 
superioress  of  a  convent  there  told  me,  that  one 
of  the  many  charges  made  against  me,  (all  of  which 
were  examined  into  and  disproved),  was  that  I 
wrote  novels. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  FAMINE  YEAR  IN  IRELAND. 

Chronic  Distress  in  Ireland  —  Favor  of  the  Holy  See  for  England  —  At- 
tacked for  my  Historical  Writings  —  State  of  the  Irish  people  —  Rela- 
tions between  Irish  and  English  Catholics  —  the  Catholics  the  Oppres- 
sors of  Ireland — Dr.  McCarthy,  His  Character  —  Lord  Lands- 
downe's  Attitude  —  Attacked  by  Rev.  Mr.  Angus  —  Appeal  to 
Cardinal  Manning  —  Letter  from  Archdeacon  O'Sullivan  —  Two 
Archdeacons  O'Sullivan  —  A  Curious  Episode  —  Mr.  Angus  contin- 
ues his  Attacks  —  He  is  Silenced  by  Legal  Proceedings  —  The  Morn- 
ing Post  Apologizes  —  My  Labors  in  the  Famine  Year  —  Distress  of 
the  Poor — Indian  Meal  fora  Family  of  Five  —  Letter  from  W.  J. 
Sullivan  to  the  Freeman's  Journal. 

WHO  needs  to  be  told  that  Ireland  is  in  a 
chronic  state  of  famine  and  distress  ?  Who  needs 
to  be  told  that  since  Pope  Adrian  handed  Ireland 
over  to  the  English  by  papal  bull  and  by  his  infal- 
lible authority,  in  return  for  a  payment  of  Peter's 
pence,  Ireland  has  been  in  a  state  of  constant 
misery  ?  Unhappy  Ireland !  and  yet  the  Irish 
people  all  over  the  world  are  the  best  support, 
both  temporally  and  spiritually,  of  the  Pope. 

Truly,  they  are  a  marvellous  people. 

One  thing  is  historically  certain  :  the  Holy  See 
has  always  thrown  its  strongest  support  on  the 
side  of  England,  and  England  is  well  aware  of 
this,  and  necessarily  makes  it  an  important  ele- 
ment in  her  political  calculation. 

70 


STATUS  OF  IRELAND.  ji 

But  there  is  another  view  of  this  subject,  not  so 
well  known  to  the  general  public  in  America.  It 
is  this  :  English  Roman  Catholics  and  the  upper 
class  of  Irish  Catholics,  or  those  who  like  to  be 
considered  such,  have  always  been  the  sternest 
opponents  of  Irish  nationality,  and  the  harshest  in 
their  dealings  with  the  Irish  people. 

I  do  not  doubt  that  if  Ireland  were  left  exclu- 
sively to  the  government  of  English  Protestants 
it  would  to-day  be  prosperous ;  but  it  would  also 
be  Protestant.  In  the  past  of  Ireland,  its  religious 
history  and  its  political  history  cannot  be  sepa- 
rated, and  it  is  one  of  the  most  curious  of  national 
records. 

Neither  time  nor  space  will  admit  of  my  going 
into  this  matter  here,  but  a  list  of  my  published 
works,  or  at  least  some  of  them,  will  be  found  in 
the  appendix*  and  in  several  of  these,  full  reports 
and  explanation  on  the  subject  can  be  obtained. 

I  must  also  say  that  when  I  entered  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  I  was  entirely  ignorant  of  Irish 
history  and  of  the  disputes  between  English  and 
Irish  Catholics.  I  was  soon  to  receive  full  and 
very  painful  enlightenment. 

I  did  not  occupy  myself  with  historical  writings 
until  after  I  went  to  Kenmare,  when  I  wrote  the 
first  of  my  many  histories  of  Ireland.  I  was  by  no 

*  See  Appendix. 


72  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

means  prepared  for  the  storm  of  indignation  with 
which  the  work  was  received  by  some  English 
Catholics.  Say  what  they  will,  they  were  English 
first  and  Catholics  after. 

The  secret  of  their  treatment  of  Ireland  is  a 
simple  one.  Before  the  act  of  emancipation  (for 
which  English  Catholics,  whether  of  distinguished 
or  of  humble  parentage,  have  to  thank  Ireland 
and  O'Connell)  they  lived  as  a  body  apart,  they 
rarely  if  ever  associated  with  their  Protestant 
neighbors,  and,  like  all  exclusive  bodies  of  men, 
became  intensely  selfish  and  intensely  proud. 
They  were  under  the  impression  that  they  alone 
constituted  the  church  ;  and  if  they  did  not  say  so 
in  so  many  words,  they  certainly  acted  at  least  as 
if  they  thought  so.  They  considered  that  they 
had  paid  the  church  a  very  high  honor  by  remain- 
ing members  of  it  under  so  many  centuries  of  per- 
secution, and  certainly  English  Roman  Catholics 
were  at  one  time  as  much  persecuted  as  the  Irish. 
But  then  English  Catholics  were  very  little  thank- 
ful for  emancipation  ;  I  believe  because  emancipa- 
tion gave  the  Irish  political  liberty,  and  they  only 
expressed  gratitude  when  they  found  the  additional 
social  advantages  it  obtained  for  themselves. 

The  Irish  people,  when  they  were  placed  under 
the  feet  of  the  English  by  the  bull  of  Pope  Adrian, 
were  despised  by  the  English  as  a  conquered 


RELATIONS  OF  ENGLISH  CATHOLICS. 


73 


nation.  Those  who  are  guilty  of  injustice,  with 
rare  exceptions,  despise  their  victims.  To  the 
English  Catholics  it  was  galling  to  be  related  even 
in  faith  to  this  despised  people.  They  would  have 
disowned  them  altogether,  but,  as  this  was  im- 
possible, all  they  could  do  was  to  show  their  con- 
tempt for  them,  even  more  plainly  than  their 
fellow-countrymen.  The  whole  proceeding  was 
simple  and  natural,  and  the  situation  can  easily 
be  understood. 

But  there  was  yet  another  element  in  this  pecu- 
liar case.  A  number  of  English  Catholics,  after 
Catholic  emancipation  had  been  obtained  for  them 
by  the  blood  and  sufferings  of  the  Irish  race, 
began  to  occupy  positions  of  trust  and  honor,  and 
as  Irish  Catholics  rose  also  in  the  social  scale, 
some  intermarriages  took  place.  This  was  by  no 
means  to  the  advantage  of  the  Irish  people.  Eng- 
lish Catholics  need  money  to  support  their  position 
as  much  as  their  Protestant  neighbors,  and  where 
could  money  be  got  more  easily  than  from  an 
Irish  estate,  where  "  rent "  can  always  be  raised 
and  mortgages  effected. 

Some  English  Catholics  also  purchased  land 
in  Ireland  when  property  was  selling  under  the 
Encumbered  Estates  Act.  Hence  quite  a  number 
of  English  Catholics  became  Irish  landlords,  and 
they  showed  their  love  and  loyalty  to  the  Pope  by 


74  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

calling  on  him  frequently  to  make  their  hapless 
tenants  pay  their  rent  and  to  silence  their  com- 
plaints. It  mattered  little  to  them  where  the 
rents  were  to  come  from  ;  the  tenants  may  starve 
at  home,  or  their  children  may  work  in  America 
to  get  it,  but  if  it  is  not  paid,  their  religious  feel- 
ings are  deeply  hurt,  and  they  exclaim  in  horror 
at  the  wickedness  of  a  race  who  still  persist  in  not 
doing  what  both  God  and  man  have  rendered  it 
impossible  for  them  to  do. 

To  write  a  fair  history  of  Ireland  was  bad 
enough,  but  it  came  to  the  famine  of  1879,  and  all 
the  English  Roman  Catholic  landlords  were  quite 
as  angry  as  Protestants,  and  more  so. 

Indeed,  the  Irish  question  may  be  fairly  de- 
scribed as  a  money  question,  and  the  landlords 
in  a  chronic  state  of  wanting  their  rents  (for  rents 
are  money),  and  the  Irish  people  in  a  chronic  state 
of  refusing  to  pay  them,  because  bad  seasons  and 
the  failure  of  crops,  which  were  their  only  pecun- 
iary resource,  had  left  them  without  the  money 
which  was  so  fiercely  demanded. 

If  some  safer  means  of  making  lands  productive 
could  be  found  than  the  hapless  pig  and  the  ever- 
failing  potato,  there  would  be  an  immense  saving 
of  misery  and  police  force. 

It  has  always  been  to  me  perfectly  incompre- 
hensible why  Irish  landlords,  whether  Roman 


OPINION  OF  RIGHT  REV.  DR.  McCARTHY. 


75 


Catholic  or  Protestant,  and  the  English  govern- 
ment, whether  liberal  or  conservative,  could  not 
see  that  if  one  half  of  the  money  spent  on  coer- 
cion, special  commissions,  and  famine  funds,  were 
expended  in  opening  up  industrial  resources  for 
the  people,  which  would  enable  them  to  earn  the 
money  to  pay  their  rents,  there  would  be  some 
ground  to  hope  for  the  peaceful  conclusion  of  the 
Irish  question. 

I  must  admit,  however,  that  my  own  failures  in 
this  matter  were  palpable  and  discouraging  ;  the 
history  of  them  will  be  found  when  I  relate  what  I 
attempted  to  do  in  County  Mayo. 

The  Right  Rev.  Dr.  McCarthy  was  bishop  of 
Kerry  in  1879.  He  was  for  many  years  President 
of  Maynooth  College,  and  otherwise  associated  with 
it.  He  told  me  more  than  once  that  such  was  the 
misery  and  distress  in  our  diocese,  that  he  would 
have  resigned  his  see  if  I  had  not  come  to  his  as- 
sistance, by  procuring  food  for  the  people. 

He  was  a  man  of  great  learning,  of  great  piety, 
and  of  a  very  tender  heart ;  he  was  also  intensely 
national. 

It  did  not  answer,  of  course,  for  these  English 
Catholics  to  denounce  me  for  helping  the  poor, 
that  would  not  have  looked  well ;  so  they  took 
another  course,  they  denounced  me  for  interfering 
in  politics.  Never  was  there  a  more  absurd  accu- 


76  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

sation,  but  it  answered  the  purpose  all  the  same. 
It  mattered  nothing  to  me  who  was  in  or  who 
was  out  of  office,  or  who  was  member  for  Dublin 
or  for  Kerry  ;  but  it  did  matter  to  me  a  great  deal 
in  view  of  our  common  humanity,  and  in  view  of 
my  love  of  the  poor,  that  I  should  do  all  I  could 
for  those  whom  He  had  loved  so  well ;  and  from 
special  circumstances  I  had  the  power  to  do  a 
great  deal. 

It  was  my  misfortune,  or  my  fate,  to  live  near 
the  property  of  two  gentlemen  not  remarkable  for 
their  humanity  to  their  tenants.  One  was  the 
Marquis  of  Landsdowne  and  the  other  was  the 
Earl  of  Kenmare ;  one  Protestant,  the  other  Cath- 
olic. Both  of  these  gentlemen  lived  principally  in 
England,  and  rarely  ever  visited  Ireland ;  they 
came  only  to  economize  or  to  get  their  rents  from 
their  tenants,  which  rents  they  spent  in  England 
or  on  the  Continent.  Now,  if  all  the  money  which 
is  got  in  any  place  is  taken  from  that  place  and 
expended  elsewhere,  how  is  that  place  to  prosper  ? 

If  saying  this  was  interfering  in  politics,  then  I 
must  plead  guilty  of  having  interfered  in  politics. 
It  seems  to  me,  however,  it  was  not  a  question  of 
politics,  it  was  a  question  of  humanity. 

Lord  Landsdowne's  brother,  Lord  Fitz  Maurice, 
took  up  the  dispute  on  his  brother's  behalf,  but 
being  a  gentleman,  he  wrote  as  a  gentleman. 


ATTACKED  BY  MR.  ANGUS. 


77 


A  Scotch  priest,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Angus,  took  up 
the  quarrel  for  the  English  Catholics  ;  and  whether 
they  selected  him,  or  he  selected  them  for  this 
office  I  do  not  know.  This  poor  priest  had  neither 
property  nor  friends  in  Ireland,  and  his  only  quali- 
fication for  his  interference  in  other  people's  affairs, 
was  presumably  his  ignorance  of  the  country,  and 
a  natural  inclination  to  pose  as  an  important 
person. 

As  I  was  a  woman  and  a  nun,  I  was  an  easy 
prey.  It  would  be  necessary  for  me  to  write  a 
volume  if  I  gave  a  complete  history  of  his  imperti- 
nent interference  in  my  private  affairs,  and  he  is 
not  worth  it.  But  he  did  all  the  harm  which  per- 
sons of  his  class  can  generally  do. 

His  attacks  on  me  in  the  English  Catholic 
papers  were  so  gross  that  Archbishop  Croke  at 
last  interfered,  and  so  far  silenced  him  that  they 
were  obliged  to  refuse  him  space  in  their  columns 
for  his  calumnies.  These  papers,  at  least  one  of 
them,  were  very  dependent  on  Irish  support,  and 
though  it  did  not  matter  to  have  a  sister  attacked 
for  taking  the  part  of  the  poor,  it  was  quite  another 
matter  when  a  Catholic  archbishop  interfered.* 

The  storm  was  quieted  for  a  time,  and  the  med- 
dlesome priest  silenced,  but  it  was  only  for  a  time. 

*  See  Appendix,  pages  501-506,  where  Archbishop  Croke's  and 
other  letters  will  be  found  on  this  subject. 


78  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

The  following  amusing  letter  will  show  that  he 
needed  occupation,  and  I  most  sincerely  wish  he 
could  have  found  it  in  some  other  way  besides 
interfering  with  me. 

"  DEAR  SISTER  MARY  FRANCIS,  —  "  It  may  be 
consoling  for  you  to  learn  that  Father  Angus, 
your  last  defamer  in  the  Weekly  Register,  is 
merely  an  amateur  West  London  priest. 

"  He  was  formerly  an  Anglican  parson,  and 
what  works  of  mercy  or  missionary  duty  he  did 
as  such,  I  am  not  aware  ;  but  as  a  Catholic  priest 
I  know  that,  if  you  reckon  in  Ireland  among  the 
works  of  mercy  a  chaplaincy  to  an  old  lady,  with 
the  additional  '  missionary  duty '  of  having  to  air 
her  pug  dog  every  evening  in  Kensington  garden, 
he  will  obtain  a  high  place  among  the  saints  of 
heaven.  "  Believe  me,  yours  faithfully, 

"PHILIP  P.  PURCELL,  Priest. 

"  P.  S.     You  are  at  liberty  to  use  this  letter. 

"  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  London,  W.  C.,  December  12,  1881." 

This  priest  next  commenced  a  series  of  attacks 
in  the  London  Morning  Journal ;  the  editor,  little 
supposing  that  a  priest  would  make  upon  a  sister 
an  attack  which  was  false  from  end  to  end,  allowed 
him  space.  This  poor  priest  was  at  that  time  in 
Cardinal  Manning's  diocese.  Every  one  knows 
that  Cardinal  Manning  is  the  very  soul  of  honor 
and  uprightness,  and  indeed,  he  also  has  suffered  a 


APPEAL    TO   CARDINAL   MANNING. 


79 


good  deal,  especially  from  English  Catholics,  for 
taking  up  the  cause  of  the  Irish. 

I  appealed  to  Cardinal  Manning  for  protection 
from  this  man,  and  my  appeal  was  received  with 
his  usual  kindness,  but  it  was  useless.  Mr.  Angus 
was  one  of  those  people  who  are  always  anxious 
to  interfere  in  the  affairs  of  others,  and  to  play  the 
role  of  director,  but  who  would  not  submit  to  his 
own  superiors. 

Cardinal  Manning's  secretary  wrote  to  me  say- 
ing that  Mr.  Angus  had  again  promised  to  dis- 
continue his  libels.  But  I  seemed  to  have  an 
irresistible  attraction  for  him. 

A  letter  of  Archdeacon  O'Sullivan,  who  was 
then  and  is  now  the  parish  priest  of  Kenmare,  will 
show  what  was  thought  of  his  conduct  by  those 
who  had  a  right  to  advise  me.  I  give  his  letter 
here,  — 

"  HOLY  CROSS,  KENMARE,  May  13,  1882. 

" MY  DEAR  SR.  M.  F.  CLARE,  —  "I  have  waited 
till  I  finished  my  stations,  to  answer  your  welcome 
letter.  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  you  are  succeed- 
ing in  your  noble  undertaking,  notwithstanding 
the  many  obstacles  Old  Nick  is  putting  in  your 
way. 

"  I  was  greatly  annoyed  at  the  attack  made  on 
you  by  the  Scotch  or  English  priest,  Father 
Angus.  Did  this  man  imagine  he  was  called  to 


go  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

do  the  work  of  Irish  bishops  and  priests  who 
ought  naturally  look  after  and  correct  Irish  nuns, 
if  they  .were  going  astray. 

"  I  sincerely  sympathize  with  you  in  the  many 
heavy  trials  you  had  to  endure  since  you  left  Ken- 
mare. 

"You  may  remember  I  was  opposed  to  your 
leaving ;  however,  I  knew  if  you  were  convinced 
that  you  were  called  to  found  a  convent  at  Knock, 
nothing  could  deter  you. 

"  Horrible  business,  the  murder  of  Lord  Caven- 
dish and  Burke.  A  feeling  of  sickness  comes 
over  me  when  I  think  of  it.  Will  Ireland  ever 
outlive  the  villany  of  her  own  sons  ? 

"Accept  the  inclosed  five  pounds  as  a  small 
token  of  my  sincere  regard  for  you,  and  the  noble 
work  you  are  engaged  in.  I  truly  regret  my 
means  don't  permit  me  to  make  the  offering  a 
hundred  times  greater. 

"  With  warmest  wishes  for  your  happiness  here 
and  hereafter,  believe  me,  my  dear  Sister  M.  F. 
Clare,  ever  sincerely  yours, 

"M.  O'SULLIVAN,   P.    P." 

I  should  explain  that  there  were  two  Archdeacon 
O'Sullivans  in  Kenmare  at  different  times.  The 
first  Archdeacon  O'Sullivan  was  the  "Father 
John "  who  brought  us  to  Kenmare,  and  whose 
death  was  such  a  grievous  loss  to  me.  I  have 
seldom  met  any  one  with  such  sublime  ideas  of 


CHARACTER   OF  FATHER   O' SULLIVAN,        gl 

God.  He  used  to  speak  out  very  plainly  about 
some  Roman  Catholic  devotions  which  he  did  not 
approve,  and  I  often  heard  him  criticise  the  les- 
sons in  the  breviary,  which  all  priests  are  obliged 
to  recite  daily,  in  a  way  which  would  have  very 
much  astonished  the  authorities  in  Rome  if  they 
had  heard  him.  He  was  a  great  reader  of  the 
Bible,  and  often  told  me  how  much  he  wished  it 
was  more  read  by  Roman  Catholics.  It  is  cer- 
tainly no  injustice  to  his  memory  to  say  he  de- 
cidedly discouraged  those  devotions  to  the  saints 
which  are  so  popular  with  priests.  Still  when 
some  ladies  tried  to  proselytize  some  of  his  flock, 
by  sending  a  Bible  reader  amongst  them,  he  took 
very  summary  measures  to  stop  them. 

I  may  say  here  that  I  found  Father  John  was 
by  no  means  singular  in  his  views  on  these  sub- 
jects. I  was  visiting  the  Jesuit  Fathers  in  New 
York  last  year  on  business,  and  as  I  was  going  up 
the  steps  to  the  college,  I  met  a  lady  who  ap- 
peared to  be  a  stranger,  and  who  asked  me  if  she 
could  see  one  of  the  fathers.  I  told  her  I  was 
going  to  ask  for  one  of  the  fathers  whom  I  knew, 
and  if  he  could  arrange  her  business  for  her  I 
could  wait.  She  then  told  me  she  was  a  Southern 
lady,  and  was  remaining  only  a  few  days  in  New 
York ;  that  iShe  had  been  requested  by  a  near  rela- 
tive to  procure  a  picture  of  the  Holy  Face  for  her, 


82  THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

and  so  long  as  sh&  obtained  what  she  wanted,  it 
did  not  matter  whom  she  saw.  I  asked  for  the 
father  with  whom  I  had  business,  and  thought  he 
would  be  just  the  person  to  arrange  this  matter. 
When  he  came  into  the  parlor,  I  offered  to  leave 
the  room,  but  the  lady  requested  me  to  remain,  as 
she  did  not  desire  to  have  any  private  conversa- 
tion with  the  father. 

She  then  told  him  what  she  wanted,  and  I  shall 
never  forget  his  exclamation  of,  I  may  say,  indig- 
nation. "The  Holy  Face !"  he  exclaimed,  "why 
by  and  by  we  shall  not  want  Almighty  God  any 
more."  It  would  take  too  long  to  relate  the 
whole  conversation,  and  I  could  only  listen  in 
utter  ama2ement ;  as  for  the  lady,  she  was  too 
surprised  to  speak,  and  she  withdrew  without  say- 
ing one  word,  except  that  she  thought  that  this 
devotion  was  approved  by  the  Roman  Catholic 
church,  which  it  certainly  is. 

But  I  must  return  from  this  episode  of  my  many 
curious  experiences,  to  the  second  Archdeacon 
O'Sullivan,  whose  letters  to  me  will  speak  for  his 
goodness  of  heart  and  mind,  and  his  regard  for 
me,  which  has  never  failed.  This  good  priest  suc- 
ceeded the  present  bishop  of  Kerry,  Dr.  Higgins, 
who  was  a  parish  priest  of  Kenmare  for  a  short 
term  before  he  was  made  bishop.  He  had  nearly 
as  many  votes  for  elevation  to  the  episcopate  as 


FATHER   ANGUS  SILENCED.  $3 

the  present  bishop,  but  he  had  not  the  same 
powerful  influence  at  Rome  through  the  land- 
lord class,  who  have  a  strong  voice  in  such 
affairs. 

I  wrote  to  Cardinal  Manning  several  times  about 
the  annoyance  Father  Angus  was  giving  me,  and 
his  eminence  each  time  tried  to  stop  him.  The  fol- 
lowing letter  will  show  how  he  evaded  the  requests 
of  his  eminence,  and  how  little  idea  he  had  of  sub- 
mission to  ecclesiastical  authority. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  letter  given  below  that 
I  was  at  last  obliged  to  place  this  matter  in  the 
hands  of  my  solicitors. 

After  this,  Father  Angus  ceased  his  public 
attacks  on  me  over  his  own  signature,  but  he  con- 
tinued them  anonymously  all  the  same,  and  over 
his  own  signature  in  private. 

"  22    FlNSBURY    ClRCUS,  E.  C. 

"  24  November,  1883. 

"  To  MESSRS  FRY  &  SONS,  SOLICITORS,  DUBLIN  : 
"  GENTLEMEN  :  The  cardinal  has  given  me  your 
letter,  and  in  reply  thereto  I  beg  to  say  that  I  have 
seen  Father  Angus  on  several  occasions,  and 
spoken  most  seriously  about  his  communications 
to  the  newspapers.  He,  on  each  occasion  prom- 
ised me  they  should  cease.  By  this  post,  at  the 
request  of  his  eminence,  I  am  communicating 
with  him,  and  I  trust  this  will  have  the  desired 


84  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

effect,    and    prove    satisfactory    to    Sister    Mary 
Francis  Clare  and  yourselves. 
"  I  am,  gentlemen, 

"  Yours  very  truly, 
(Signed)  "  DANIEL  (CANON)  GILBERT, 

"  Vicar-General." 

It  would  seem  indeed,  that  Mr.  Angus  was  free 
in  promising  obedience  to  his  superiors,  but  some- 
how the  temptation  to  speak  evil  of  me  was  too 
much  for  him.  In  October,  1882  I  was  obliged  to 
take  legal  proceedings  to  silence  him. 

The  editor  of  the  Morning  Post  was  shocked 
when  he  found  how  he  had  been  deceived  ;  he  at 
once  apologized  to  me  very  fully  in  his  paper,  and 
inserted  a  contradiction  of  Father  Angus's  libels. 

Mr.  Angus  was  now  silenced,  as  far  as  public 
attacks  were  concerned.  For  some  time  previous 
he  had  occupied  himself  in  sending  me  anonymous 
letters,  and  extracts  from  papers  containing  abusive 
and  insulting  paragraphs  about  myself.  As  I 
could  not  bear  the  worry  and  annoyance  of  these 
things,  I  returned  many  of  his  letters  unopened. 
But  this  only  excited  his  indignation  still  more. 
It  seemed,  unless  he  was  sure  that  I  knew  of  his 
attacks  on  me,  that  they  could  not  give  him  any 
satisfaction. 

In  England,  happily,  there  is  a  law  to  protect 
character,  and  if  you  are  libelled  in  the  public 


ABSURD  ACCUSATIONS.  85 

press,  you  can  obtain  the  name  of  your  libeller 
and  take  an  action  for  damages  against  him,  or 
against  the  paper  that  has  published  the  libel,  or 
both. 

I  regret  now  that  I  did  not  take  an  action 
against  Mr.  Angus,  as  doing  so  would  probably 
have  silenced  him  in  private,  also,  and  perhaps 
saved  much  of  what  has  happened  since  ;  but  as 
he  was  a  priest,  I  forebore. 

Later  it  will  be  seen  that  I  had  also  to  obtain 
the  name  of  a  priest  who  had  libelled  me  in  the 
press  in  connection  with  the  Knock  schools,  and 
to  my  great  grief,  I  found  that  this  priest  was  no 
other  than  Archdeacon  Cavanagh.  Indeed  if  I 
had  not  seen  the  libel  in  his  own  handwriting,  I 
could  not  possibly  have  believed  that  he  was  the 
author  of  it. 

One  of  the  absurd  accusations  which  Mr.  Angus 
brought  against  me  was  that  I  belonged  to  the 
"  Ladies'  Land  League."  It  so  happened,  that  I 
never  had  anything  to  do  with  that  body.  I 
believe  that  an  American  bishop  is  under  the 
same  impression  at  present,  probably  having  ob- 
tained his  information  from  the  same  untrust- 
worthy source. 

It  will  be  right  for  me  here  to  give  some 
account  of  what  I  did  in  the  "  Famine  Year  "  of 
1879-80,  and  I  will  let  others  speak  of  it  rather 
than  myself. 


86  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE, 

When  the  distressed  state  of  the  country  was 
known,  funds  poured  in  from  all  parts  of  the 
world,  and  as  I  had  a  very  large  correspondence, 
and  was  well  known  through  my  writings  in  Aus- 
tralia and  India,  as  well  as  in  America,  it  was 
natural  that  money  should  be  sent  to  me  for  dis- 
tribution. Some  people  doubted  public  commit- 
tees and  other  mediums  of  distribution,  and  they 
thought  I  would  know  best  when  and  where  to 
expend  their  charity  for  them. 

After  Mayo  and  the  West,  Kerry  is  the  poorest 
part  of  Ireland.  But  I  did  not  do  more  for  it 
than  I  did  for  other  places,  although  I  lived  in  it. 
Unless  a  place  was  specified,  as  often  happened, 
by  the  donors,  where  they  wanted  the  money 
spent  which  they  sent  me,  I  distributed  it  as 
fairly  as  possible  wherever  I  knew  it  was  most 
needed.  I  felt  it  to  be  a  most  sacred  trust, 
and  tried  to  fulfil  it  as  sacredly  and  carefully  as 
possible. 

One  of  my  objects  was,  while  helping  for  the 
present,  to  provide  for  the  future.  The  potato, 
being  the  staple  food  of  the  Irish  people,  had 
degenerated,  and  new  seed  was  most  urgently 
needed.  Indeed  the  principal  cause  of  the  dis- 
tress was  the  failure  of  the  potato  crop,  and  the 
inferior  quality  of  the  seed. 

A  clergyman  of  the  Episcopal  church  sent  me 


GREAT  DISTRESS  IN  IRELAND.  g? 

a  dozen  potatoes  from  a  parish  near  Corxk,  in  a 
letter ;  they  were  about  the  size  of  marbles,  and 
these,  he  said,  were  all  the  people  had  to  live 
on.  The  Catholic  priest  and  he  acted  to- 
gether most  harmoniously  and  he  joined  with 
this  clergyman  in  an  appeal  to  me  to  send 
them  seed  potatoes.  A  similar  appeal  was  made 
to  me  from  Achil  by  the  Episcopal  clergyman 
and  the  priest. 

A  gentleman  writing  to  the  Bolton   Guardian, 
England,  said,  — 

t.» 
"  It    is    not    long    since    an    important    letter 

appeared  in  a  London  contemporary  under  the 
heading  '  Distress  in  Ireland.'  It  was  from  the 
pen  of  Miss  Cusack,  the  well-known  nun,  Sister 
Mary  Francis  Clare,  of  the  convent  Kenmare, 
County  Kerry.  I  cannot  introduce  my  present 
subject  better  than  by  citing  one  or  two  sen- 
tences from  that  letter.  Miss  Cusack  says  she 
knows,  at  this  moment,  families  of  comparative 
respectability  who  live  on  dry  bread  and  tea.  As 
to  meat  of  any  kind,  it  is  an  unknown  luxury.  As 
for  the  poor  laborers,  Indian  meal  is  their  sole 
subsistence.  Few  of  us  in  England  know  what 
Indian  meal  is  ;  it  may  be  described  as  a  coarse 
and  watery  apology  for  food  which  was  introduced 
into  Ireland  at  the  time  of  the  famine,  and  which 
has  lingered  in  the  markets  ever  since  as  a  sort  of 
alternative  against  starvation.  No  millowner  in 


88  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

Bolton  would  consider  it  good  enough  for  his 
horses.* 

"  Miss  Cusack  gives  the  case  of  a  poor  woman 
who  came  to  the  convent  to  her  the  other  day  and 
confided  her  circumstances  to  her.  The  poor 
woman's  husband  had  just  recovered  from  fever, 
his  head  was  swollen,  and  he  was  not  able  to 
work.  She  had  three  children  who  were  receiving 
education  in  the  free  school  of  the  convent,  and 
the  poor  mother  begged,  for  the  love  of  God,  '  we 
would  give  her  a  stone  of  Indian  meal  a  week.' 

"  '  A  stone  of  Indian  meal  a  week,'  exclaims 
Miss  Cusack,  '  and  nothing  else,  for  a  family  of 
five.'  If  this  is  not  poverty,  I  know  not  what 
poverty  is.  Fourteen  pounds  of  Indian  meal  a 
week,  and  nothing  else  for  a  family  of  five.  Two 
pounds  of  Indian  meal  a  day  for  five  persons,  of 
whom  one  is  recovering  from  fever,  and  where 
there  are  three  growing  children.  Six  ounces  of 
Indian  meal  a  day  and  water !  no  milk,  no  bread, 
no  tea,  for  each  member  of  an  Irish  home !  This 
is  the  fact  which  Miss  Cusack  gives  to  the  people 
of  England  as  a  sample  of  Irish  distress.  The 
object  of  this  excellent  lady  is  to  raise  contribu- 

*  My  American  readers  will  be  surprised  to  hear  "  Indian 
Meal "  spoken  of  so  disrespectfully,  but  I  must  explain  that  the 
sweet,  delicious  "Indian  corn"  of  the  American  dinner-table  is 
not  even  known  in  England  or  Ireland.  If  Americans  could  see 
or  taste  the  compound,  I  fear  of  sawdust  and  bad  flour,  called 
Indian  meal  or  "yallow  male"  which  is  doled  out  in  famine  and 
other  times  to  the  poor  Irish,  they  would  not  wonder  that  it  is 
considered  not  good  enough  for  horses,  and  hardly  fit  for  pigs. 


LETTER  FROM  THE  FREEMAN'S  JOURNAL.    89 

tions  to  relieve  the  distress.  I  can  only  wish  her 
godspeed.  I  thank  her  for  the  fact  and  for  the 
beautiful  spirit  manifested  in  her  letter." 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  written 
by  Mr.  J.  Sullivan,  Kenmare,  to  the  editor  of  the 
Dublin  Freeman  s  Journal : 

"  Distress  in  its  very  worst  form  is  sapping  the 
lives  of  our  ablest  bodied  peasants,  and  making 
them,  in  appearance,  animated  skeletons.  I  have 
ventured  to  send  you  an  account  of  a  scene  I  was 
a  most  unwilling  witness  of  in  this  town  to-day. 
About  midday  there  were  assembled  some  five 
hundred  to  six  hundred  men  and  women,  of  all 
ages,  whose  faces  denoted  want  and  misery ;  star- 
vation being  too  plainly  imprinted  on  visages 
which,  in  more  prosperous  times,  would  have 
bloomed  with  the  ruddy  hue  of  health.  This  mass 
of  starving  humanity  rushed  in  evident  frenzy  to 
the  several  provision  stores,  to  get  the  dole  meted 
out  to  each  individual  by  the  gentlemen  who  form 
the  committee  for  distributing  relief ;  and  wo- 
begone,  indeed,  was  the  expression  of  the  face  of 
him  or  her  who  was  kept  too  long  waiting  for 
what  seemed  to  be  a  long-expected  meal.  Such  a 
scene  the  writer  never  witnessed  before,  although 
he  has  passed  through  several  towns  where  relief 
was  being  distributed.  Distress  seemed  to  have 
reached  its  culminating  point  here,  and  hard, 
indeed,  must  be  the  hearts  of  landlords  and 


9o 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


agents  who  can  say  no  great  distress  exists,  or 
who  have  made  no  efforts  to  save  the  people, 
when  such  cases  are  daily  enacted  in  their  pres- 
ence, as  they  are  here. 

"  Now,  I  find  on  inquiry  that  the  fund  which 
purchases  food  for  this  starving  population  has 
been  obtained  solely  by  that  most  estimable  lady, 
'The  Nun  of  Kenmare.'  The  landlords  or 
agents,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  have  not  done 
anything  to  aid  her  in  her  noble  efforts.  The 
poor,  starving  people  have  to  depend  almost 
entirely  on  the  funds  obtained  by  that  lady  for 
relief.  She  has  disbursed  within  a  very  short 
period,  very  little  short  of  $10,000,  to  the  poor  of 
this  district,  and  it  might  be  truly  said,  if  there 
was  no  '  Nun  of  Kenmare '  many  a  cold  grave 
would  be  filled  through  starvation  ere  this.  Such 
a  benefactress  is  worth  a  legion  of  speech  makers  ; 
for  while  they  are  talking  she  is  working.  Work 
such  as  hers  should  not  be  allowed  to  pass  unre- 
corded, and  her  noble  donors  will,  no  doubt,  learn 
with  delight  they  have  opened  their  purses  to  one 
both  capable  and  willing  to  apply  the  funds  at  her 
disposal  to  the  object  for  which  she  has  appealed, 
and  possibly,  supplement  her  store,  and  give  her 
ample  means  of  carrying  out  her  heaven-born 
ideas  of  saving  a  wretched,  starving  people  from 
disease  and  death." 


CHAPTER    VII. 

The  Nun  of  Kenmare's  Distress  Fund — Object  of  the  Fund — Methods 
of  Relief— Letters  from  Mr.  O'Connel),  Rev.  C.  O'Sullivan,  from 
Protestant  Clergymen,  and  Others  —  Appeals  and  Thanks  from  Con- 
vents—  A  Threatening  Letter  —  Appeal  to  Chief  Secretary  Foster  — 
His  Reply — Indignation  Meeting  at  Kenmare  —  Remarks  of  Ven. 
Archdeacon  O'Sullivan,  Rev.  J.  Molineux,  Mr.  Fitzgerald,  Mr.  Har- 
rington, and  Others. 

THE  object  of  my  fund  was,  first,  to  supple- 
ment, as  far  as  possible  the  relief,  often  wholly 
inadequate,  given  by  the  public  funds.  Second,  to 
enable  clergymen  of  all  denominations,  and  sisters, 
to  exercise  a  most  necessary  discretion  in  assisting 
their  destitute  people,  and  to  enable  them  to  give 
such  help  in  cases  of  severe  sickness  or  weakness, 
as  would  not  be  allowed  to  be  given  from  the  pub- 
lic funds.* 

One  priest,  in  by  no  means  the  worst  parish  in 
Ireland,  wrote  to  me :  "  I  got  thirteen  shillings 
yesterday  for  Masses,  but  I  gave  it  all  away  in  five 
minutes  after.  I  am  keeping  part  of  what  you 

*  Nothing  was  allowed  to  be  given  except  "  Indian  meal  ";  not 
even  to  the  sick,  the  dying,  or  little  children.  The  horrible  sug- 
gestion was  made  by  London  newspapers  that  even  this  was  to  be 
made  as  distasteful  as  possible.  The  reader  should  know  also 
that  this  meal  had  often  to  be  eaten  uncooked  ;  there  had  been  a 
failure  of  fuel  (turf)  as  well  as  of  the  potato. 

91 


Cj2  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

sent  ($250)  in  hand,  for  the  priests  must  have 
something  to  give,  the  people  expect  it  from  us. 
When  I  say,  '  Where  would  I  get  it  from  ? '  They 
answer,  with  their  beautiful  and  pure  faith,  '  Oh, 
from  God.'  How  then  can  the  priest  shake  the 
faith  of  the  people,  that  faith  which  has  been  their 
stay  for  ages  ? "  And  the  priest  who  writes  me 
this  adds,  "  when  they  say  this  I  am  shut  up  at 
once.  I  take  what  you  have  sent  '  from  God.'  " 

It  was  important  to  have  a  fund  to  help  the 
convents  in  the  distressed  districts  ;  besides  which 
there  was  the  additional  advantage  of  bringing 
the  children  to  school,  by  giving  them  food  and 
clothing.  Thousands  of  children  were  unable  to 
attend. school  for  want  of  food  and  clothing. 

I  could  fill  a  volume  if  I  gave  extracts  from  the 
letters  I  received  from  priests  and  nuns  in  every 
part  of  Ireland.  I  will  only  add  a  few  letters  re- 
ceived by  me  within  the  space  of  a  few  weeks 
from  Protestant  clergymen,  Catholic  gentlemen, 
Protestant  ladies,  and  Catholic  priests,  all  un- 
known to  each  other,  and  living  in  districts  hun- 
dreds of  miles  apart ;  proofs  that  the  distress  was 
increasing ;  that  it  would  continue  for  many 
months ;  that  the  amount  given  to  each  place  by 
all  the  public  funds,  even  where  all  gave  to  one 
place,  was  far  short  of  supplying  anything  like  the 
amount  necessary  even  for  existence. 


MR.    &CONNELVS  LETTERS 


93 


Mr.  O'Connell  of  Derrynane,  to  whom  I  sent 
large  help,  both  in  food  and  seed  potatoes,  wrote : 

"  I  hope  you  will  be  able  to  send  us  more  aid  ; 
we  want  it  badly,  as  the  pittances  we  get  from 
the  Duchess  of  Maryborough's  fund  and  the  Man- 
sion House  funds  only  go  a  very  little  way  in 
this  large  district." 

In  another  letter  he  says,  — 

"Mv  DEAR  SISTER  FRANCIS  CLARE,  —  You  have 
done  a  wonderful  work  in  and  about  Kenmare,  in 
relieving  the  poor,  and  in  other  parts  of  this 
diocese.  For  your  munificent  gift  of  $500  for 
seed  potatoes  to  this  district,  I  and  my  poor 
neighbors  can  never  be  sufficiently  grateful.  As 
for  Kenmare  itself,  from  all  I  know  and  hear,  I 
believe  you,  and  you  only,  have  prevented  a  famine 
there.  I  can  only  hope  and  pray,  that  you  may  be 
enabled  to  carry  on  your  good  work  to  the  end, 
and  to  support  the  poor  for  the  next  few  months, 
the  most  trying  time  of  all.  That  you  will  have 
your  reward  hereafter,  I  am  sure ;  the  prayers  of 
God's  poor  cannot  fail  to  be  heard  for  you." 

In  a  third  letter  he  says,  — 

"  I  wish  you  could  give  us  some  more  help  for 
food  soon.  We  have  seven  hundied  families  to 
provide  for.  There  are  two  other  districts  in 
Iveragh  which  sorely  want  aid.  Glenbeigh,  where 
the  distress  is  terrible,  no  relief  works  of  any 


94 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


kind,  and  no  one  save  the  priest  to  do  anything. 
Father  Magin  will,  I  know,  be  grateful  if  you  can 
help  him. 

"  The  other  district  is  the  two  parishes  of  Prior 
and  Killmalage,  both  very  poor,  and  very  little 
being  done  in  the  way  of  drainage,  etc.  If  you 
can  send  help  for  them,  you  may  rely  on  its  being 
properly  expended  and  accounted  for.  I  shall  of 
course  keep  an  account  of  the  distribution  of  your 
potatoes.  I  can  do  it  without  any  expense." 

I  sent  over  $1000  to  this  district  in  one  month, 
and  yet  another  urgent  appeal  came. 

It  is  well  known  that  Mr.  O'Connell  is  one  of 
the  best  landlords  in  Ireland,  devoted  to  his 
people,  and  no  absentee.  I  received  from  other 
gentlemen,  some  of  them  Protestant  landlords, 
similar  appeals,  all  saying  that  no  matter  how 
they  economized,  or  what  help  they  have  got, 
starvation  and  nakedness  were  felt  on  every  side. 

The  Rev.  C.  O'Sullivan,  P.  P.,  The  Mines, 
writes,  — 

"  A  thousand  thanks  for  your  magnificent  dona- 
tion of  $500,  and  a  thousand  blessings.  There 
are  fresh  applicants  every  day.  It  is  now  the  dis- 
tress is  only  setting  in  ;  and  I  am  afraid  that  no 
assistance,  no  matter  how  large,  will  be  able  to 
cope  with  the  poverty  and  misery  of  this  district 
(South  Kerry)  in  the  months  of  April,  May,  June, 
and  July  next." 


TERRIBLE  DESTITUTION. 


95 


He  then  cites  a  number  of  cases,  and  one  fam- 
ily whose  sole  help  for  the  support  of  seven  people 
was  sixpence  a  day,  earned  by  a  little  girl  in  the 
mines.  Five  hundred  dollars  seems  a  very  large 
sum  of  money,  and  those  who  have  not  the  expe- 
rience of  priests  and  nuns  imagine  it  ought  to 
feed  thousands  for  months  to  come.  But  when 
there  are  perhaps  four  thousand,  sometimes  six 
thousand,  in  one  parish,  all  having  no  food  what- 
ever, or  any  way  of  getting  food,  it  is  easy  to 
calculate  how  far  this  sum  will  go  in  food  of  the 
coarsest  kind,  and  to  see  that  nothing  will  be  left 
for  clothing. 

The  parish  priest  of  Achill,  and  the  Protestant 
rector,  to  whom  I  sent  help,  wrote  that  at  the  best 
of  times  the  population  were  on  the  verge  of  star- 
vation. What  must  it  be  now  ?  They  said  an 
English  lady  had  written  to  them  about  providing 
clothing;  but  unless  an  immense  quantity  were 
sent  it  would  be  useless,  as  there  were  from  five 
thousand  to  six  thousand  people  almost  naked.  In 
many  parishes  there  were  hundreds  of  children 
who  could  not  go  to  school  because  they  had  not 
sufficient  clothing  for  common  decency.  Some  of 
the  teachers  told  me,  with  tears  in  their  eyes,  they 
-had  to  send  the  children  home,  because  they  could 
not,  especially  in  the  mixed  schools,  allow  the  poor 
children  to  come  so  destitute  even  of  decent  cov- 
ering. 


g6  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

The  Protestant  rector  of  Achill  sent  me  a  vote 
of  thanks  for  the  relief  I  sent  to  him  and  the 
Catholic  priest.  I  must  say  that  I  had  no  little 
consolation  in  this  matter.  Again  and  again  I 
received  warm-hearted  thanks  from  Protestant 
clergymen  for  the  help  that  I  had  sent  to  the 
Catholic  priest,  as  well  as  for  the  help  I  had  been 
able  to  give  them  ;  and  not  the  least  warm  thanks 
were  given  by  the  Protestant  rector  of  Ken  mare, 
and  of  the  two  neighboring  parishes.* 

•The  Protestant  clergyman  of  Achill  wrote  me,  — 

"  The  committee  wish  to  convey  to  the  good 
Nun  of  Kenmare  their  heartfelt  thanks  for  her 
generous  and  large-hearted  donation.  They  have 
a  strong  reason  to  enlist  the  charitable  sympathy, 
as  well  as  the  influence  and  powerful  voice,  of  Sis- 
ter M.  Francis  Clare  for  Achill,  and  they  wish  to 
make  known  to  her  the  dire  and  terrible  distress 
prevailing  at  present  in  this  immense  parish.  Out 
of  one  thousand  one  hundred  families,  six  thousand 
five  hundred  souls,  nine  hundred  and  sixty  families 
are  in  urgent  need  of  weekly  relief  from  the  com- 
mittee, and  seventy  more  families  are  in  equal 
need,  but  cannot  be  relieved  for  want  of  funds. 
(Signed)  "Protestant  rector,  J.  B.  GREEK,  Clk. 
"  Catholic  priest,  R.  BIGINS,  C.  C." 

*  This  portion  of  the  present  work  consists  principally  of 
documents  which  may  perhaps  be  useful  to  future  historians,  and 
it  will  at  least  give  a  good  idea  of  the  state  of  Ireland  from  pri- 
vate and  contemporary  sources. 


THANKS  FROM  PROTESTANTS. 


97 


A  Protestant  lady  wrote  to  me  to  ask  if  she 
could  use  part  of  the  help  I  had  the  happiness  of 
sending  her  for  clothing.  I  knew  she  could  man- 
age to  make  a  little  money  go  further  than  any 
one  else  in  her  district,  where  there  were  no  nuns, 
and  the  help  had  been  sent  for  food.  She  said,  — 

"  I  cannot  find  words  to  thank  you  from  myself, 
and  on  behalf  of  the  many  poor  creatures  whose 
hearts  your  generous  gift  will  comfort  and  make 
glad.  But  I  would  ask  you  kindly  to  allow  me  to 
expend  one  half  of  the  amount  of  check  in  cloth- 
ing. You  can  form  no  idea  of  how  miserably 
naked  many  poor  creatures  are.  I  saw  some  girls 
doing  some  spring  labor  in  my  husband's  fields  a 
few  days  ago  with  nothing  on  them  but  a  thread- 
bare flannel  petticoat  and  the  tattered  shreds  of 
an  old  shawl  tied  across  their  shoulders.  I  am 
doubtful  if  they  had  any  under  garments  ;  they 
felt  shy  at  even  my  having  seen  them.  I  never 
seemed  to  notice,  but  I  did  feel  in  my  heart  for 
them,  and  will  now,  God  helping  me,  exert  myself 
in  every  way  to  get  them  a  little  clothing.  Don't 

I  wish  we  had  Father  N here  for  a  few  weeks, 

left  to  his  own  resources,  and  he  would  feel  as 
well  as  see  what  Irish  distress  means."  * 

The  Protestant  rector  of  Inchiguila  wrote,  — 
"We   (the   parish   priest  and  himself,  who  are- 

*  Father  N was  an  English  priest  who  expressed  doubts  as  to  the 

distress,  which  prevented  help  from  coming  there. 


98 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


working  most  happily  and  unitedly)  are  much 
obliged  for  the  discretionary  powers  you  have 
given  us  in  dealing  with  your  very  large  donation. 
O,  that  we  had  even  a  few  such  !  we  would  then 
be  enabled  to  bring  gladness  to  many  a  home, 
now  wretched  homes,  and  joy  and  hope  to  many  a 
sad  heart.  We  have  not  received  from  all  quar- 
ters anything  like  an  equivalent  to  the  demand. 
We  yesterday  relieved  on  our  own  responsibility, 
doing  so  in  faith  and  hope,  249  families,  compris- 
ing 1,379  individuals.  In  this  work  of  faith  and 
hope,  we  were  greatly  cheered  by  your  kind  letter 
and  contents.  Our  great  and  pressing  want  is 
seed  ;  but  we  dare  not,  with  the  means  at  our 
disposal,  venture  on  the  providing  it.  Why  it  is 
we  do  not  get  a  share  of  the  Castle  Fund  we  do 
not  know.  I  think  that  were  the  distribution 
more  general,  and  evenly  dealt  out  to  all  in  dis- 
tress, the  contributions  would  be  large  and  contin- 
uous. We  cannot  call  it  an  institution  for  the 
relief  of  distress  in  Ireland  that  overlooks  and 
passes  by  on  the  other  side  a  section  of  the  desti- 
tute of  Ireland." 

Here  are  some  brief  extracts  from  appeals  or 
thanks  for  help  from  convents. 

Sister  M.  P ,  Convent  of  Mercy,  C , 

wrote,  — 

"  You  have  no  idea  of  the  pain  it  gives  us-  not 
to  be  able  to  help  our  poor  school  children. 


APPEALS  AND    THANKS  FROM  CONVENTS.   QQ 

There  is  an  opposition  school  called  the  Church 
School.  I  had  an  encounter  yesterday  with  a  poor 
widow  who  came  to  take  her  child  away  from  us 
to  the  parson  or  any  one  who  would  feed  and 
clothe  her.  The  poor  child  was  actually  starving. 
The  one  hundred  dollars  you  sent  will  save  many 
a  soul." 

The    Rev.  Mgther,  Convent,  B : 

"  Your  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  was  indeed 
a  welcome  gift  to  a  convent  in  such  a  poverty- 
stricken  district ;  there  are  hundreds  of  human 
beings  crying  for  relief,  and  we  have  no  means  to 
help  them." 

The  Rev.  Mother,  Cl : 


"  May  God  bless  you  for  your  charity,  so  pure, 
universal,  and  disinterested.  The  number  in  ter- 
rible need  of  clothing  and  food  would  puzzle  one. 
All  asking  for  work,  and  no  work  for  them.  Your 
one  hundred  dollars  will  do  great  good." 

Mother  A ,  Convent,  B : 

"  We  have  got  no  help,  except  ten  dollars,  since 
you  sent  the  last  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars, 
and  we  have  had  fever,  many  cases  of  which  we 
are  attending  as  they  cannot  be  moved  to  hospital. 
We  got  spillars  (fishing  lines)  out  of  the  last 
money  you  sent,  so  this  will  be  a  permanent  relief, 
and  seed  potatoes,  which  Father  is  distri- 
buting." 


IOO  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

Sister  M.  P.,  Convent  of  St. : 

"  Your  tw6  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  will  indeed 
relieve  hundreds  who  are  truly  in  a  pitiable  condi- 
tion." 

It  is  useless  to  occupy  space  with  further  de- 
tails. I  have  taken  these  extracts  without  selec- 
tion from  a  pile  of  similar  letters. 

The  Rev.  J.  O' Sullivan,  Port  Magee, — 

"  There  are  thousands  here  on  the  verge  of  ruin. 
In  one  house,  yesterday,  I  saw  seven  children 
crying  with  hunger." 

I  sent  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  at  once, 
though  we  had  not  half  that  sum  left,  but  God  be 
praised,  more  than  that  came  next  morning,  and 
was  sent  to  other  places  and  other  priests,  equally 
destitute. 

Canon  Bresnan,  P.  P.,  Caherciveen,  writes,  — 

"There  are  upwards  of  800  destitute  families 
here.  How  we  are  to  struggle  through  the  next 
five  or  six  months,  I  know  not ;  as  for  clothing, 
$4,000  would  not  supply  the  barely  necessary 
want,  whilst  some  500  children  are  unfit  to  ap- 
pear in  school  through  this  want.  Dear  sisters, 
do  all  you  can  to  help  me  in  this  great  work  of 
need  and  charity.  Praying  God  to  send  you  more 
and  more,  "  I  am,  yours  most  truly, 

"J.  CANON  BRESNAN." 


A    THREATENING  LETTER.  IOi 

In  November,  1881,  I  received  a  threatening 
letter  from  London,  which  caused  a  great  deal  of 
feeling  in  Ireland,  and  all  the  more  so  because 
some  of  the  National  Party  were  accused  of  hav- 
ing sent  letters  to  obnoxious  landlords.  I  took 
the  matter  for  what  it  was  probably  worth,  a  mere 
bravado.  If  I  had  been  assassinated,  to  have  died 
for  the  cause  of  charity  would  have  been  a  happy 
end  to  my  troubled  life.  The  matter  was  commu- 
nicated to  Mr.  Forster,  then  chief  secretary  for 
Ireland,  and  I  received  the  following  letter  in  con- 
sequence. The  threatening  letter  which  I  re- 
ceived was  posted  in  London,  and  was  apparently 
written  by  an  educated  person.  I  append  here  a 
copy  of  the  letter  received  from  Mr.  Forster  in 
consequence  of  communication  made  to  him  on 

the  subject. 

CHIEF  SECRETARY'S  LODGE,  PHCENIX  PARK, 

DUBLIN,  November  15,  1881. 

"  MADAM,  —  Mr.  Forster  desires  me  to  acknowl- 
edge the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  8th  inst., 
and  is  sorry  to  hear  you  have  received  so  insult- 
ing and  atrocious  a  letter. 

"  Mr.  Forster  can  only  add  that  atrocious  and 
insulting  letters  appear  to  be  often  written  in  Ire- 
land, and  the  nature  of  the  offence  is  one  which 
makes  it  very  difficult  for  the  law  to  deal  with. 
"  I  am,  madam,  your  obedient  servant, 

HORACE  WEST,  Sec. 
"  To  SISTER  M.  FRANCIS  CLARE,"       • 


102  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

A  public  meeting  was  held  in  Kenmare,  to  de- 
nounce the  writer  of  this  letter,  on  the  tenth  of 
December,  and  I  give  a  few  extracts  from  the 
report  as  published  in  the  Kerry  Sentinel.  As  is 
usual  in  Ireland,  the  meeting  was  held  on  Sunday. 
I  may  perhaps  say  that  I  have  never  received  even 
the  least  expression  of  sympathy  or  interest  from 
the  Kenmare  people  since  I  left  Kerry,  which 
shows  how  little  their  expressions  of  gratitude  and 
excitement  were  worth. 

THREATENING    THE    NUN    OF   KENMARE GREAT  IN- 
DIGNATION   MEETING   AT    KENMARE. 

( From  the  Kerry  Sentinel.*  ) 

KENMARE,  Sunday  evening. 

The  answer  which  South  Kerry  has  this  day 
given  to  the  insult  offered  to  the  gifted  nun,  who 
has  made  Kenmare  famous  the  world  over,  was 
both  dignified  and  defiant.  The  promoters  of  the 
meeting  rightly  interpreted  the  threatening  letters 
to  Sister  Mary  Francis  as  an  expression  of  anger 
on  the  part  of  the  landlords  or  their  partisans  at 
the  testimony  which  she  has  given  in  her  writings 
and  in  her  interviews,  to  the  sad  condition  of  the 
people  of  the  district,  and  hence  the  meeting  re- 
ceived the  character  of  a  monster  land  demonstra- 
tion as  well  as  indignation  meeting.  The  town 

*  An  equally  full  report  of  this  meeting  was  published  in  the 
Cork  and  Dublin  papers. 


AN  INDIGNATION'  MEETING. 


103 


was  filled  long  before  twelve  o'clock  Mass.  Large 
crowds  came  in  from  the  different  parishes  sur- 
rounding Kenmare,  headed  by  their  priests.  The 
Killarney  brass  band  brought  from  Kilgarvan 
direction  the  largest  contingent.  They  were  met 
outside  of  the  town  by  a  splendid  body  of  Ken- 
mare  men,  marshalled  by  stewards  wearing  green 
rosettes.  They  carried  a  splendid  banner,  with  the 
device  "  Kenmare  resents  the  insult  offered  to 
Sister  Mary  Francis.  Behold  her  bodyguard." 
There  were  between  six  thousand  and  eight  thou- 
sand persons  present  at  the  meeting.  Green 
favors  were  worn  by  the  great  majority  of  those 
present,  and  by  the  ladies,  who  mustered  in  very 
large  force  at  the  meeting.  The  proceedings 
commenced  shortly  after  two  o'clock.  The  meet- 
ing was  held  in  the  inclosure  attached  to  the  mag- 
nificent church,  where  a  platform  was  erected. 

On  the  motion  of  the  Rev.  M.  Sheehan,  P.  P., 
seconded  by  Rev.  J.  Molyneux,  the  chair  was 
taken  by  Ven.  Archdeacon  O'Sullivan,*  P.P.,V.G. 

The  venerable  chairman,  who  was  received  with 
loud  cheers,  then  addressed  the  meeting.  He 
said,  —  I  thank  you,  my  friends,  for  the  honor  con- 
ferred on  me  in  asking  me  to  preside  at  this  great 
meeting.  I  beg  to  assure  you  it  is  with  feelings 
of  the  deepest  pain  I  refer  to  the  occasion  which 
has  called  you  all  together  to-day.  I  need  not 

*  The  Archdeacon  O'Sullivan  who  presided  at  the  meeting  was 
the  second  of  the  name,  as  stated  at  page  80. 


104 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


anticipate  the  expression  of  your  detestation  of  the 
dastardly  conduct  of  that  vile  specimen  of  human- 
ity who  dared  by  his  threatening  letters  to  insult 
the  gifted  and  noble-hearted  lady  who  has  shed  a 
lustre,  not  only  on  the  holy  community  of  which 
she  is  such  an  ornament,  but  on  the  country  at 
large.  She  has  made  the  name  of  this  little  town 
known,  wherever  the  English  language  is  spoken, 
and  where  literary  labors  of  the  highest  excellence 
are  appreciated.  O'Connell  never  conferred  on 
his  native  Kerry  more  honor  or  more  glory  than 
has  the  Nun  of  Kenmare  on  this  hitherto  unknown 
and  remote  locality.  To  enumerate  to  you  the 
numberless  productions  of  her  pen,  which  have 
graced  the  various  walks  of  literature,  would  be 
beside  the  purpose  and  object  of  this  great  meet- 
ing. The  thousands  of  pounds  she  collected  and 
distributed  amongst  the  starving  inhabitants,  not 
only  of  Glanerough  and  Dunkerron,  but  of  every 
parish  in  and  out  of  Kerry  from  which  the  cry  of 
distress  reached  her  ears,  prove  to  you,  if  proof 
were  necessary,  that  the  spirit  of  her  holy  founder, 
St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  pervades  her  soul,  and  that 
she  is  anxious  to  realize  in  her  own  conduct  the 
great  love  that  he  manifested  for  the  poor  of 
Christ.  And  because  in  the  exercise  of  her  free 
will  and  judgment,  she  dared  to  give  her  views  Oh 
the  burning  question  of  the  day,  which  engrosses 
the  attention  of  statesmen  of  all  parties,  nnd 
thoughtful  men  of  all  classes,  a  cowardly  person 


ARCHDEACON  O*  SULLIVAN'S  ADDRESS. 


105 


has  sent  from  London  an  anonymous  letter,  threat- 
ening her  with  the  fate  that  Rory  of  the  Hills  has 
in  reserve  for  the  victims  of  his  displeasure. 

A  VOICE.  —  Let  them  come  and  try  it. 

The  CHAIRMAN.  —  In  the  annals  of  human  de- 
pravity, nothing  more  detestable  or  base  could  be 
found,  and  I  need  not  ask  you,  my  friends,  what 
you  think  of  such  conduct  and  how  it  ought  to  be 
dealt  with,  when  in  a  nation  of  gallant  men,  of 
men  of  honor  and  of  cavaliers,  ten  thousand 
swords  would  have  leaped  from  their  scabbards  to 
avenge  the  insult  offered  to  this  illustrious  lady. 
The  London  miscreant  who  penned  it  seemed  to 
forget  that  Ireland  is  still  Catholic,  and  that  nuns 
and  the  monks  cannot  here  be  maltreated  with  the 
same  impunity  as  in  England.  He  seems  to  for- 
get that  the  foul  anti-Catholic  spirit  which  is  now 
manifesting  itself  in  Germany,  France,  and  Italy, 
has  no  home  in  Ireland,  and  with  God's  blessing 
never  shall  have.  The  infidel  in  England  and  the 
infidel  revolutionist  of  the  Continent  may  think  it 
safe  amusement  to  assail  and  insult  the  members 
of  religious  orders,  but  should  they  avow  their 
purpose  in  Ireland  something  worse  than  the 
threats  of  vengeance  uttered  by  "  Rory  of  the 
Hills  "  might  befall  them.  Do  not  we  live  under 
the  Constitution  ?  Is  not  every  subject  born 
under  this  much  vaunted  palladium  of  liberty  en- 
titled to  give  his  views  freely  and  fearlessly  on 
public  men  and  public  measures,  on  Irish  land- 


I06  THE  NUN  OF  KEN  MA  RE. 

lords  and  Irish  agents,  and  on  English  home  and 
foreign  policy.  And  why  should  this  right  be 
denied  to  Sister  Mary  Francis  Clare  ? 

The  Rev.  M.  Nelligan,  who  acted  as  secretary 
to  the  meeting,  read  the  following  letters  of  apol- 
ogy which  he  had  received  :  — 

"  ADRIGOLE,  Dec.  3,  1880. 

"  DEAR  AND  REV.  SIR,  —  I  deeply  regret  that  it 
will  be  quite  impossible  for  me  to  be  present  at 
the  great  indignation  meeting  in  Kenmare  on 
Sunday.  Need  I  assure  the  Dunkerron  and  Glen- 
erough  men,  assembled  in  their  thousands  to  sym- 
pathize with  the  noble-hearted  Sister  M.  F.  Clare 
for  the  insult  offered  her,  that  I  am  with  them  in 
spirit.  The  indefatigable  and  successful  exertions 
of  the  gifted  Nun  of  Kenmare,  on  behalf  of  her 
famine-stricken  fellow-beings  has  drawn  on  her 
devoted  head  the  ire  of  some  enemy  of  the  Irish 
race.  That  she  did  not  confine  her  labors  and 
charities  to  Kenmare  alone,  where  she  did  won- 
ders to  avert  famine,  is  notorious.  She  has  been 
the  generous  benefactress  of  many  places,  her 
charity  being  as  unbounded  as  distress  was  deep 
and  widespread.  In  this  afflicted  barony  of  Bere 
no  parish  was  left  unaided.  When  want  and  sick- 
ness raged  from  end  to  end  of  my  own  Clenlau- 
rence,  her  fifty-pound  checks  came  regularly,  and 
in  time  to  save  hundreds  from  the  horrors  of  star- 
vation. Knowing  where  and  when  to  give,  she 
fed  the  hungry ;  scores  of  ragged  and  naked  chil- 


LETTERS  TO    THE   MEETING.  IO7 

dren  were  clothed  at  her  expense ;  for  those  who 
had  not  a  potato  to  put  in  the  ground,  she  sent 
seed  to  crop  the  land.  For  this  poor  district,  and 
others  like  it,  she  has,  alone  and  unaided,  done 
more  to  relieve  distress  than  the  largest  and  best- 
disposed  of  the  charitable  committees.  In  return, 
she  has  what  to  her  is  dearer  than  the  treasures  of 
earth  —  the  good  wishes  of  the  poor. 

"  JAMES  NELIGAN,  P.  P." 

"EXTON  PARK,  OAKHAM,  ENGLAND,  Dec.  8,  1880. 

"DEAR  SISTER,  —  I  have  just  seen  the  an- 
nouncement in  the  papers  that  you  have  received 
some  threatening  letters,  and  feel  impelled  to 
write  and  say  how  deeply  I  feel  the  disgrace  that 
any  one  who  has  labored  as  you  have  done  for  the 
good  of  common  humanity  could  have  been  made 
the  object  of  such  petty  spite.  ...  I  only  hope  it  may 
be  so,  and  that  in  any  case  God  may  long  preserve 
you  to  work  for  our  poor,  persecuted  race,  as  you 
have  hitherto  done. 

"  Wishing  you  every  blessing  for  the  coming 
season,  I  remain,  sincerely  yours, 

"  HENRY  BELLINGHAM,  M.  P." 

"THE  PALACE,  KILLARNEY,  Dec.  i,  1880. 
"  MY  DEAR  FATHER  NELIGAN,  —  I  am  sorry  I 
cannot  attend  your  meeting  on  Sunday,  to  join 
my  voice  with  the  many  thousands  which  will  be 
raised  to  condemn  the  unmeaning,  ungentlemanly 
outrage  that  has  been  offered  to  the  good  Nun  of 


108  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

Kenmare.     Wishing   the  meeting  the  success  it 
deserves,  I  remain  very  sincerely  yours, 

"M.    M'CARTHY,    C.    C." 

"  SNEEM,  Dec.  3, 1880. 

"  DEAR  REV.  FATHER,  —  I  can  well  understand 
why  that  the  people  of  Kenmare  and  its  surround- 
ings cannot  help  being  indignant  at  the  mean, 
gross,  and  cowardly  insult  offered  to  Sister  M.  F. 
Clare.  Though  I  should  wish  very  much  to  be 
present  at  the  meeting  on  Sunday  next,  to  raise 
my  voice  in  condemnation  of  so  wanton  an  out- 
rage, yet  the  duties  of  the  day  will  render  it  impos- 
sible. "Yours  faithfully, 

"T.  DAVIS,  P.  P." 

"THE  PALACE,  KILLARNEY, Dec.  2. 
"  MY  DEAR  FATHER  NELIGAN,  —  In  reply  to 
your  kind  note  of  invitation  to  the  indignation 
meeting  in  Kenmare  on  Sunday  next,  I  beg  to 
express  my  regret  that  parochial  duties  will  render 
it  impossible  for  me  to  attend.  Sympathizing 
heartily  with  the  object  of  the  meeting,  and  wish- 
ing it  every  success,  believe  me,  yours  very  sin- 
cerely, "M.  A.  DILLON,  C.  C." 

"  FARRANFORE,  Dec.  2. 

"  MY  DEAR  FATHER  NELIGAN,  —  I  regret  that 
the  obligation  of  Sunday  duty  here  will  not  allow 
me  to  join  in  your  expressions  of  indignation  at  the 
conduct  of  those  who  have  offered  insult  to  the 
good  Nun  of  Kenmare,  otherwise  I  would  gladly 


LETTERS  CONTINUED. 


do  so  ;  and  whatever  shall  be  said  at  your  meeting 
in  defence  and  vindication  of  that  brave,  learned, 
and  true-hearted  woman,  shall  command  my  entire 
sympathy  and  approval.  Her  charitable  and  able 
pen  has  been  more  nobly  employed  in  soliciting 
and  distributing  alms  to  thousands  of  God's  poor 
than  that  of  the  English  lordling  in  vindictively 
maligning  the  good  Nun  of  Kenmare. 

"  I  remain,  yours  very  faithfully, 

"  P.  O'CONNOR,  P.  P." 

"  SNEEM,  Dec.  3. 

"  MY  DEAR  FATHER  NELIGAN,  —  I  am  very  sorry 
that  Sunday's  duty  will  render  it  impossible  for 
me  to  be  present  at  your  proposed  meeting.  I  am 
very  sorry  for  this,  as  of  course  the  object  of  the 
meeting  commands  my  sincerest  sympathy.  Hop- 
ing that  your  public  protest  against  such  cowardly 
outrages  as  your  meeting  is  summoned  to  denounce, 
may  prove  a  complete  success. 

"  I  remain,  yours  very  sincerely, 

"MAHONY  LEYNE,  C.  C." 

"  THE  PRESBYTERY,  BALLYBUNNION,  Dec.  7, 1880. 
"  MY  DEAR  FATHER  NELIGAN,  —  I  owe  you  a 
thousand  apologies  for  not  writing  sooner.  The 
fact  of  the  matter  is,  that  I  have  been  so  occupied 
for  some  time  past  that  I  could  not  read  many  of 
the  letters  I  received.  To  give  you  an  idea,  as 
late  as  Friday  last  I  had  twenty  persons,  teachers 
and  pupils,  transcribing  certain  statistics  I  was 


j  I0  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

preparing  for  the  Land  League  and  Land  Com- 
mission. Rest  assured  that  no  one  attended  your 
meeting,  who  more  heartily  condemns  than  I  do, 
those  dastardly  attacks  on  that  noble  and  benevo- 
lent woman,  who  has  done  so  much  for  our  suffer- 
ing country,  and  I  will  add,  in  particular,  for  the 
people  of  this  parish.  Yours  very  sincerely, 

"M.   O'CONNOR,  P.  P." 

The  Rev.  J.  Molyneux  supported  the  resolution. 
He  said  they  had  all  come  there  at  great  incon- 
venience, and  many  of  them  from  long  distances  ; 
but  he  was  sure  that  every  man  of  them  would 
come  double  the  distance,  and  surfer  ten  times  the 
inconvenience,  in  order  to  attend  that  meeting. 
That  gifted  lady,  the  Nun  of  Kenmare,  had  done 
more  within  the  past  year  to  save  the  lives  of  the 
people  than  all  the  landlords  and  agents  in  Kerry 
had  ever  done.  If  the  Nun  from  her  convent  cell 
could  see  that  magnificent  meeting,  she  would  see 
that  they  were  a  people  worth  laboring  for)  and 
worth  fighting  for.  Last  summer  an  American 
with  whom  he  travelled  said  to  him,  —  he  was  a 
Protestant  and  a  gentleman  of  position  in  the 
United  States,  —  "  There  is  no  living  Irishman  or 
Irishwoman  better  known  or  more  respected  in 
the  United  States  than  Sister  Mary  Francis 
Clare,"  and  he  added  the  extraordinary  statement, 
"She  -is  better  known  and  more  respected  than 
evenTtlve  Pope  -himself."  They  would  all,  he  was 


LETTERS  CONTINUED.  Iir 

pray  God  might  grant  her  strength  and  long 
life  to  work  for  the  people  of  Kenmare  and  for 
Ireland.  I  myself  have  seen  many  a  poor  man 
trudge  through  yonder  streets  with  the  look  of 
death  upon  his  face,  with  the  pinches  of  starvation 
on  his  forehead,  and  without  a  penny  in  his  pocket, 
begging  of  the  Kenmare  merchants  to  give  him  as 
much  provisions  as  would  support  himself  and  his 
little  family  for  the  ensuing  week.  But  in  most 
cases  the  merchant's  books  were  closed,  the  poor 
man's  credit  was  gone,  and  he  went  home  like  a 
waif,  —  a  wandering  waif,  —  dispirited  and  broken- 
hearted. But  during  the  time  there  was  a  star 
arising,  not  in  the  firmament,  but  in  that  convent 
hard  by,  destined  to  brighten  the  night  of  that 
poor  man's  despondence,  and  to  bring  home  peace, 
plenty,  and  comfort  to  the  bosom  of  his  poverty- 
stricken  family.  Yes,  fellow-countrymen,  that 
star  has  arisen,  and  the  people  call  it  Mary  Fran- 
cis Clare,  and,  like  the  star  of  Bethlehem,  which 
guided  the  Magi  of  the  Eastern  nations  to  Jerusa- 
lem, so  did  Sister  Clare  guide  and  direct  the  char- 
ity of  a  world  towards  the  support  and  regenera- 
tion of  that  unfortunate  and  famine-stricken  land. 
From  her  lonely  cell  by  the  banks  of  that  purling 
little  Finnehe  her  voice  rang  over  the  Rocky 
Mountains  of  America  ;  it  was  heard  by  the  waters 
of  the  Pacific,  and  along  the  shores  of  San  Fran- 
cisco, and  many  the  generous  purse  flew  open 
at  that  call,  and  many,  many  the  exiled  Irish 


I  1 2  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

heart,  blest  that  angelic  voice  which  they  ever 
heard  raised  in  behalf  of  the  poor,  and  holy 
Ireland. 

A  VOICE.  —  May  God  bless  her. 

MR.  FITZGERALD.  —  Fellow-countrymen,  you  all 
heard  of  the   spectral    ghost  which    invaded   the 
land  in  '46,  '47,  '48,  and  many  among  you  to-day 
remember  it.     Yes,    my   friends,    you    remember 
your  fellow-creatures  being  taken  in  boxes  to  the 
grave  by  the  dozen,  and  a  cat  would  not  call  it  a 
grave.     It  was  a  huge  yawning  sepulchre,  which 
swallowed  up  the  manhood  of  this  valley.     It  was 
an  unlettered  cairn  where  the  bones  of  the  poor 
lie   mixed  and    mouldering   to   the    present   day. 
Now  we  had  last  winter  a  visit  from  the  very  same 
spectre,  which,  like  a  winged    fury  from    the  in- 
fernal regions,  spread  a  terror  and  a  gloom  over 
this  land.     Thank  God,  he  was  scared  away  from 
this  valley.     But  by  whom  ?     Was  it  by  that  gov- 
ernment, that  sent  us  buckshot  ?     Was  it  by  the 
landlords,    that    sent  us   writs  ?     Was    it   by   the 
guardians,  that  intimated  emigration  and  transpor- 
tation ?     No,  my  friends,  he  was  scared  away  by 
the  charity  of  foreign  nations  accumulated  in  Ken- 
mare  by  Sister  Clare.     God  bless  her  —  may  her 
shadow  never  grow  less  ;  and  here  to-day  I  pro- 
claim from  the  platform  that  we  want  no  hirelings 
to  protect  her.  .  For  did  she  require  it,  we'd  form 
a  rampart  of  our  bodies  around  her,  and  our  best 
hearts'  blood  would,  for  her  sake,  stain  again  the 


MR.  SULLIVAN'S  RESOLUTION.  u^ 

fields  of  old  Ireland.  That  dastardly  English 
coward,  whoever  he  be,  never  made  a  greater 
mistake  in  his  life  than  if  he  thought  by  his  threats 
to  intimidate  our  Nun  from  raising  her  voice  on 
behalf  of  the  poor  and  oppressed  tenants  of  this 
country.  He  little  knew  the  fire  and  patriotism 
that  animated  that  noble  heart.  He  little  knew 
the  love  of  fatherland  which  she  infused  into  some 
of  the  young  blood  o£  Ireland.  Through  many  a 
foreign  country  there  are  men  to-day  who,  when 
boys,  eagerly  drank  up  the  patriotism  which 
flowed  from  the  lectures  of  Sister  Clare,  and  some 
would  tell  you  to-day  that  they  shall  never  forget 
her,  for  she  taught  them  how  to  be  Irishmen. 
Then,  my  friends,  let  us,  too,  profit  by  her  teach- 
ings, be  pure,  be  virtuous,  be  kind  to  your  neigh- 
bors, and  true  to  your  country. 

Mr.  J.  D.  Sullivan,  P.L.G.,  who  was  warmly 
received,  proposed  this  resolution  :  — 

"  Resolved.  —  That,  as  the  cause  and  root  of  the 
distress  amongst  all  classes  of  the  community, 
which  this  devoted  child  of  St.  Clare  so  largely 
relieved,  still  remain  unremoved,  we  call  upon  the 
government  and  legislature  of  the  country  to  pass 
such  a  land  bill  as  will  root  the  Irish  farmer  in 
the  land  of  his  birth,  and  save  him  and  the  laborers 
who  cooperate  with  him  in  the  tilling  of  the  .soil, 
from  the  periodic  returns  of  famine  and  starva- 
tion." 


i!4  THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

He  said  :  "  Now,  fellow-countrymen,  what  is  the 
cause  of  this  great  distress  amongst  you  ?  It  is 
certainly'owing  to  no  fault  of  your  own  ;  it  is  owing 
to  the  pernicious  land  laws  of  the  country,  and 
until  that  same  system  has  been  removed,  you  may 
expect  those  peroidical  famines.  As  long  as  your 
landlords  have  the  power  of  life  and  death  over 
you,  as  long  as  your  landlords,  let  them  be  good 
or  let  them  be  bad,  have  the  power  to  screw  out 
of  you  the  fruits  and  benefit  of  your  hard  toil  and 
labor,  so  long  you  are  sure  to  have  those  awful 
famines,  which  many  amongst  you  have  felt  for  the 
third  time  during  your  lives,  and  which  has  given 
our  fertile,  but  unhappy  country,  the  shameful 
name  of  a  perpetual  beggar.  All  of  you  tenant 
farmers  recollect  that  about  ten  or  twelve  years 
since,  you  had  a  few  years  of  comparative  pros- 
perity. You  were  then  able  to  meet  your  de- 
mands—  to  rear  and  support  your  families  in  fair 
decency.  But,  my  friends,  you  know  what  your 
landlords  then  said  to  you  ;  they  said,  "  You  are 
now  full  of  money  from  the  produce  of  our  lands, 
and  you  must  pay  us  from  twenty  to  thirty  per 
cent  increase  on  your  rents."  They  said  to  you, 
"let  us  hear  no  grumbling,  you  must  do  it,"  and 
you  had,  my  friends,  to  submit,  and  the  few  pounds 
you  should  have  put  into  your  pockets  and  laid  up 
for  an  evil  day,  were  forcibly  robbed  from  you. 
But  when  the  hour  of  distress  came,  what  did 
your  landlords  do  for  you  ? 


MR.   SULLIVAN'S  ADDRESS.  H5 

A  VOICE. — They  did  nothing. 

MR.  SULLIVAN.  —  I  will  tell  you  ;  they  allowed 
your  cries  of  misery  and  distress  to  reach  that  good 
nun  of  that  convent,  to  tax  the  energies  of  her 
fertile  brain,  and  with  its  industry  appeal  to  the 
charitable  world  for  help  for  you,  which  appeal 
was  most  generously  responded  to,  and  which  help 
was  by  her  so  liberally  distributed  that  even  the 
landlords,  for  their  own  interest,  were  most 
anxious  that  their  tenants  would  not  be  for- 
gotten. 

A  VOICE.  —  She  was  the  means  of  paying  the 
rent  to  many  of  them. 

MR.  SULLIVAN. — You  are  now  here,  fellow- 
countrymen,  protesting  against  that  land-law,  and 
demanding,  with  the  farmers  of  all  Ireland,  that 
the  government  and  the  law  makers  of  this  king- 
dom should  pass  such  a  land  bill,  and  enact  such 
a  law  as  will  root  you  in  the  land  of  your  birth, 
where  the  sweat  of  your  brows,  and  the  manhood 
of  your  youth  have  been  buried,  and  that  that 
sweat  and  that  manhood  should  never  again  be 
confiscated.  You  demand  at  least  fixity  of  tenure 
at  fair  rents,  settled  once  and  for  ever,  and  a 
power  of  free  sale,  not  that  power  that  your  land- 
lord could  say  to  you,  "  I  will  allow  you  sell  to  your 
interest,  but  the  purchaser  must  pay  me  five  shil- 
lings to  the  pound  increase  of  rent,"  which  power 
of  sale  is  only  an  inducement  to  landlords  that 
you  should  sell. 


IT6  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

A  VOICE.  —  That's  the  Ulster  custom  in  Kerry. 

MR.  SULLIVAN.  —  "  Now,  my  friends,  you  will 
excuse  me  when  I  say  that  you  should  lay  a  great 
share  of  blame  at  your  own  doors,  on  account  of 
the  mad  competition  for  land  which  many  amongst 
you  have  practised  these  years  past,  and  which 
practice  has  ruined  yourselves  and  injured  the 
country  at  large.  But,  my  friends,  perhaps  you 
ought  to  be  excused  also,  for  you  were  not  then 
enlightened  ;  but  now  you  are,  thanks  to  whom  ? 
to  that  great  Irishman,  Mr.  Parnell.  Fellow-coun- 
trymen, pledge  yourselves  this  day,  before  that 
sacred  temple  near  which  you  stand,  and  which 
has  been  the  tomb  and  the  shroud  of  that  great 
Archdeacon,  its  builder,  who  was  and  will  be  long 
remembered  as  the  great  and  the  good  Father 
John,  who  during  life  was  the  terror  of  tyrants, 
and  who  in  his  honored  grave  is  the  friend  of  the 
poor  —  not  to  take  or  not  to  purchase  any  farm, 
the  rent  of  which  has  been  increased,  and  by  no 
means  and  on  no  account  take  any  farm  from 
which  your  neighbor  has  been  evicted.  These 
are  peaceable  but  strong  weapons  in  your  hands, 
and  weapons  that  will  prove  effective.  You 
should  also  pledge  yourselves  not  to  commit 
crime,  nor  allow  it  to  be  committed,  if  you  can  ; 
because  at  the  present  time,  crime  at  your  hands 
is  the  strongest  and  most  powerful  weapon  your 
enemies  and  oppressors  could  wear  or  wield.  The 
smallest  crime  is  magnified,  and  from  it,  as  it 


MR.  HARRINGTON'S  ADDRESS.  \\f 

were,  a  small  matter  is  made  as  big  as  Mangerton 
mountain^  yonder.  You  know  a  lying  Tory  press, 
and  a  landlord  conspiracy  are  watching  you.  Now, 
my  friends,  having  demanded  an  honest  and  a  good 
land  bill,  you  also  say  that  no  bill  will  be  satisfac- 
tory which  does  not  provide  for  the  farm  laborer, 
and  improve  his  condition  ;  you  cannot  say  it  is 
happiness  to  have  the  farmers  prosperous  and 
contented,  and  the  laborer  miserable  and  dejected ; 
the  laborer  ought  to  be  fairly  housed,  fairly  clad, 
and  well  fed.  The  laborer  is  as  useful  and  as 
essential  to  the  farm  and  the  farmer,  as  the  key 
of  the  door  is  to  the  lock ;  because  without  the 
laborer  the  soil  cannot  be  opened,  just  as  the  lock 
cannot  without  the  key ;  the  prosperity  of  the 
farmer  and  the  laborer  should  go  hand  in  hand. 
But,  countrymen,  should  the  government  of 
England  (in  whom,  I  think,  we  ought  to  place 
confidence,  though  they  made  a  great  mistake  in 
their  prosecutions),  fail  to  pass  the  land  bill  we 
require,  what  then  will  be  the  consequence  ?  A 
continuation  of  famines,  and,  in  all  probability, 
you  may  not  have  another  Sister  Francis  Clare  to 
come  to  your  rescue  ;  or,  even  if  you  have,  what 
will  the  nations  of  the  world  say  to  her. 

MR.  T.  HARRINGTON,  Editor,  Kerry,  Sentinel.  — 
There  are  millions  of  our  fellow-countrymen,  the 
world  over,  to  whom  the  name  of  the  good  and 
gifted  Nun  of  Kenmare  is  more  than  a  household 
word,  and  who  would  give  the  greater  part  of  their 


I  i  g  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARR. 

earthly  possessions  for  the  proud  privilege  of 
standing  here  "  to  avenge  even  a  look  that  would 
threaten  her  with  insult."  Far  as  the  fame  of 
Sister  Mary  Francis  has  extended  —  and  who  will 
deny  that  it  has  reached  every  land  where  the 
scattered  Clan  na  Gael  have  found  a  home?  — 
equally  widespread  and  equally  universal  will  be 
the  feeling  of  indignation  which  this  outrage  shall 
call  forth,  and  the  exiled  son  of  Ireland,  in  his  log 
hut  by  the  Susquehanna,  or  his  home  beneath  the 
Southern  Cross,  will  fiercely  re-echo  the  cry  of 
indignation  which  arises  to-day  from  you,  men  of 
Glanerough  and  Dunkerron.  Why  has  this  gentle 
follower  of  St.  Francis  been  assailed  ? 

Simply  because  in  the  fulness  of  her  womanly 
compassion  for  the  miseries  of  the  people,  she  has 
not  only  kept  them  from  actual  starvation,  but  has 
dared  to  point  to  the  system  in  which  these  mis- 
eries have  their  origin.  She  has  dared  to  give 
offence  to  landlordism  by  stating  that  there  was 
distress  in  and  around  Kenmare  last  winter,  and 
by  appealing  to  the  sympathy  of  the  Christian 
world  for  the  relief  of  the  suffering  victims. 

Her  urgent,  incessant,  and  touching  appeals 
reached  every  clime,  and  were  respected  by  every 
grade  of  society,  and  in  a  short  time  she  had  col- 
lected no  less  than  .£15,000  for  the  relief  of  the 
people.  Many  amongst  you,  who  retain  a  vivid  rec- 
ollection of  the  appalling  famine  of  '47,  can  best  ap- 
preciate the  result  of  this  herculean  effort.  You 


MR.  HARRINGTON  CONTINUES. 


IIQ 


who  saw  the  famished  victims  die  in  thousands  by 
the  roadside  at  that  time,  who  witnessed  the  awful 
sufferings  of  a  people  to  whom  death  would  have 
been  a  mercy  ;  who  looked  upon  the  sliding  coffin 
and  the  inhuman  form  of  burial  which  consigned, 
some  say,  even  the  living  to  an  unconsecrated 
grave  — 

A  VOICE.  —  Some  were  buried  alive. 

MR.  HARRINGTON. — You  who  witnessed  these 
things  can  say  how  much  Kenmare  is  indebted  to 
her,  who,  under  Providence,  was  the  means  of  pre- 
venting a  recurrence  of  those  dread  scenes  last 
winter.  "If  I  could  go  on  a  platform,"  said  a 
Kenmare  lady  to  me,  during  the  past  week,  "I 
could  tell  them  what  Sister  Clare  has  done.  I 
could  tell  them  that  last  year  would  be  as  bad  as 
'47  and  '48  only  for  her,  and  I  remember  that  time 
well.  I  remember  the  people  dying  by  dozens  by 
the  roadside  every  day  and  buried  without  coffins, 
and  though  the  whole  place  almost  was  turned 
into  a  poorhouse,  yet  there  was  more  influence  used 
at  that  time  to  get  a  pauper  admitted  than  there 
is  now  for  the  appointment  of  a  master  or  a 
matron.  Mr.  Stuart  Trench,  whose  memory,  no 
doubt,  is  still  fresh  amongst  you,  who,  by  the  way, 
must  have  assisted  in  tying  the  matrimonial  knot 
for  some  of  you  here,  for,  in  addition  to  the  quali- 
ties of  land  agent,  he  united,  it  seems,  those  of  a 
couple-beggar  —  tells  the  tale  of  that  period  in 
the  following  words,  — 


120  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

"  At  least  five  thousand  people  must  have  died 
of  starvation  within  the  union  of  Kenmare.  They 
died  on  the  roads,  and  they  died  in  the  fields  ;  they 
died  on  the  mountains,  and  they  died  in  the  glens  ; 
they  died  at  the  relief  works,  and  they  died  in 
their  houses.  So  that  whole  streets  or  villages 
were  left  almost  without  an  inhabitant,  and  at  last 
some  few,  despairing  of  help  from  the  country, 
crawled  into  the  town  and  died  at  the  doors  of  the 
residents  and  outside  the  union  walls."  * 

A  VOICE.  —  He  says  nothing  about  the  Lans- 
downe  ward. 

MR.  HARRINGTON.  —  This  is  but  a  picture  of  the 
misery  which  the  good  Nun  of  Kenmare  prevented 
last  winter.  The  landlords,  perhaps,  would  have 
thanked  her  more  had  she  allowed  the  people  to 
starve,  and  then  joined  Mr.  Townsend  Trench  in 
his  scheme  of  emigration.  His  father  writing  of 
the  scheme  which  he  set  on  foot  in  '48  says,  — 

"  In  little  more  than  a  year,  three  thousand  five 
hundred  paupers  had  left  Kenmare  for  America, 
all  free  emigrants,  without  any  ejectment  having 
to  be  brought  against  them  to  enforce  it,  or  the 
slightest  pressure  put  upon  them  to  go.  Matters 
now  began  to  right  themselves.  Only  some  fifty 
or  sixty  paupers  remained  in  the  house,  chargeable 
to  the  property  of  which  I  had  the  care,  and  Lord 

*  This  is  an  extract  from  a  book  on  Ireland,  written  by  Mr. 
Trench  in  which,  strangely  enough,  he  makes  many  statements, 
very  damaging  to  landlords.  The  title  of  the  book  is  Realities  of 
Irish  Life. 


MR.  HARRINGTON  CONTINUES.  I2i 

Lansdowne's  estates  at  length  breathed  freely." 
Yes,  "breathed  freely,"  when  the  people  were 
banished,  and  Lord  Lansdowne's  rental  was  not 
taxed  to  any  extent  for  their  support.  There  is  no 
sigh  for  the  brave  hearts  and  manly  arms  that  are 
lost  to  Mother  Ireland,  no  moan  over  the  graves  of 
the  famine  victims,  no  sympathy  for  the  many 
hearts  forever  broken  by  sad  separation,  no  word 
of  anxiety  for  the  future  of  those  who  were  ban- 
ished —  all  other  considerations  are  lost  in  the 
gloomy  satisfaction  of  having  got  rid  of  the  people. 

Mr.  Trench's  spirit  did  not  die.  His  son  in- 
herits the  same  philanthropic  intentions.  He  too 
devised  another  scheme  of  emigration  this  year, 
though  I  myself  heard  him  state,  that  he  never 
knew  a  year  in  which  the  poor  were  better  off  than 
last  winter.  But  I  think  the  day  is  fast  approach- 
ing, when  our  people  will  refuse  to  go  into  exile 
at  the  whim  of  any  taskmaster.  The  day  is  ap- 
proaching when  they  will  insist  upon  their  right  to 
live  in  the  land  of  their  birth,  and  when  they  will 
turn  to  the  exterminating  hypocrite  and  say,  "  If 
you  think  Ireland  overpopulated,  then  go  you  into 
exile  and  you  will  confer  a  lasting  benefit  on  your 
country."  A  great  flood  of  light  has  recently  been 
let  in  on  the  dark  deeds  perpetrated  here,  in  the 
name  of  landlordism.  Hinc  ilia  lacJiryma. 

Give  to  the  insult  which  has  been  offered  to 
Sister  Clare,  that  reply  which  shall  most  glad  her 
patriotic  heart,  the  resolve  to  struggle  with  might 


122  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

and  main  against  oppressive  rack  rents  and  unjust 
eviction,  until  you  see  the  whole  island  free  from 
the  iniquitous  system.  Tell  the  miscreant  who 
has  offered  her  insult  that,  to  use  the  words  on 
that  banner  before  me,  you  are  her  bodyguard, 
and  that  more  of  Ireland's  true  and  trusted  sons 
would  volunteer  in  her  service  to-day  than  all  the 
gold  of  Irish  landlordism,  aye,  or  all  the  wealth  at 
the  command  of  Britain's  Queen,  could  purchase, 
in  an  ignoble  cause. 

The  following  reports  of  relief  committees  are 
taken  from  the  Freeman's  Journal  (Dublin).  They 
refer  to  the  period  preceding  the  indignation  meet- 
ing when  I  was  distributing  relief  so  largely.  At 
that  time  I  think  at  least  seventy-five  thousand 
dollars  must  have  passed  through  my  hands.  The 
principal  part  of  this  money  was  sent  to  me  from 
America,  and  from  persons  whom  I  had  not  known 
previously.  Bishop  Higgins  was  the  parish  priest 
of  Kenmare,  but  was  succeeded  immediately  after 
by  Archdeacon  O' Sullivan. 

A  VOTE  OF  THANKS  PASSED  TO  SISTER  M.  FRANCIS 
CLARE  BY  THREE  RELIEF  COMMITTEES  OF  THE 
PARISHES  OF  KENMARE,  SNEEM,  AND  KILGARVAN. 

"  To  the  Editor  of  the  '  Freeman's  Journal ' :  — 

"  SIR,  —  As  secretary  of  the  Kenmare  Relief 
Committee,  I  am  only  required  to  furnish  the 


A    VOTE   OF   THANKS.  123 

press  with  a  summary  of  their  proceedings  in  your 
advertising  columns  ;  but,  sir,  I  feel  I  would  be 
wanting  in  my  duty  if  I  did  not  place  on  record 
the  noble  exertions  of  the  Nun  of  Kenmare.  Were 
it  not  for  her  we  would  have  no  committee,  because 
they  would  have  no  funds  to  distribute,  having 
only  received,  up  to  the  present,  ^50  from  the 
Mansion  House  Fund  and  ^28  from  the  Duchess 
of  Maryborough's.  I  intend  giving  your  readers  a 
very  brief  idea  of  what  this  one  member  of  the 
Order  of  Poor  Clares  in  this  remote  district  has 
clone.  Landlords  of  Kerry,  it  will  shame  your 
apathy  and  indifference  to  the  sufferings  of  the 
poor.  Look  carefully  at  our  advertisement,  and 
see  what  the  exertions  of  one  noble  woman  from 
the  seclusion  of  her  lonely  cell  on  the  banks  of  the 
Finnehe  has  done  to  cheer  their  miserable  homes, 
and  to  fill  the  empty  stomachs  of  our  starving 
people.  Am  I  not  right,  then,  in  stating  that  were 
it  not  for  that  heaven-sent  guardian  of  the  poor, 
many  a  poor  Glenorough  man  and  woman  would 
to-day  have  fixity  of  tenure  in  the  lonely  grave- 
yard ?  —  I  remain,  dear  sir,  yours  faithfully, 

"  MICHAEL  CRONIN, 

"Hon.  Sec.  Kenmare  Relief  Committee.^ 

Kenmare  Relief  Committee. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Kenmare  Relief  Committee, 
held  on  the  tenth  inst.,  the  following  resolutions 


I24 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


were  adopted  unanimously,  the  members  of  com- 
mittee present  being,  — 

Chairman  —  Archdeacon  Higgins,  P.  P.,  V.  G.  ; 
Treasurer —  Daniel  O'Brien  Corkery,  J.  P.  ;  Sec- 
retary —  Daniel  Mahony,  P.  L.  G.  ;  Assistant  Sec- 
retary —  Michael  Cronin.  Rev.  Maurice  Neligan, 
C.  C.  ;  J.  D.  Sullivan,  P.  L.  G.  ;  G.  M.  Maybury, 
J.  P.  ;  Charles  John  Maybury. 

Proposed  by  G.  M.  Maybury,  J.  P  ;  seconded  by 
Charles  John  Maybury,  — 

"  That  this  committee  return  their  heartfelt 
thanks  to  Sister  M.  F.  Clare  for  the  generous  as- 
sistance which  she  has  given  in  relieving  the  poor 
of  this  district,  they  having  received  through  her 
;£ioo  for  meal,  together  with  one  hundred  and 
fifty  sacks  of  meal  for  distribution,  seventy 
blankets,  and  also  ^380  for  the  purchase  of  seed 
potatoes.  They  also  return  their  grateful  thanks 
to  the  superioress  and  sisters  of  the  convent  for 
their  exertions  in  clothing  and  feeding  so  many  of 
the  poor  during  the  present  severe  distress." 

(Signed),    Archdeacon  HIGGINS,  P.  P.,  V.  G. 

Proposed  by  D.  O'B.  Corkery,  J.  P  ;  seconded 
by  J.  D.  Sullivan,  P.  L.  G.,  - 

"That  this  committee  implore  of  Sister  M.  F. 
Clare  to  continue  her  hitherto  herculean  exertions 
to  procure  food  and  seed  potatoes  for  the  poor  of 


THE  KENMARE  RELIEF  COMMITTEE. 


125 


this  district,  as  every  effort  will  be  needed  to  save 
the  people  from  starvation,  and  prevent  a  repeti- 
tion of  the  dreadful  scenes  of  the  famine  year 
again  occurring  in  our  midst." 

(Signed),  "Archdeacon  HIGGINS,  P.  P.,  V.  G., 

"  Chairman." 

In  addition  to  what  has  been  given  to  the  Relief 
Committee  here,  the  Nun  of  Kenmare  has  ex- 
pended the  following  sums  from  collections  en- 
trusted to  her  care,  — 

Clothing  poor  children  in  Kenmare,  ;£ioo ; 
clothing  to  the  poor  of  the  school  of  Kenmare, 
Templenoe,  and  Cahir,  ^150;  bales  of  clothing 
supplied  to  the  poor,  ^200 ;  for  meal  and  other 
food,  ^154  6s.  6d  ;  weekly  assistance  to  poor 
families,  ^50;  distributions  during  Christmas 
week  to  125  poor  families,  ^87  i6s  ;  employment 
given,  £78. 

Cash  sent  by  the  Nun  of  Kenmare  to  districts 
outside  this  parish,  ^464,  — 


Valentia    ^30      Tuosist £10 

Cahirciveen    20       Kilgarvan 60 

Port  Magee 10       Bonane 20 

Cahirdaniel     20       Galvvay 55 

Ferriter 20       Meath 25 

Waterville 20      Cavan 5 

Ardigole     60       Cork     9 

Sneem     20      Dublin    5 

Castletown  Here  .           .  80 


1 26  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

Kilgarvan  (Co.  Kerry)  Relief  Committee. 

It  was  proposed  by  the  Rev.  W.  B.  Smith,  Prot- 
testant  Episcopal  rector,  and  seconded  by  Mr. 
Joseph  Aldworth,  P.  L.  G,  — 

"  Resolved :  That  the  committee  return  their 
most  sincere  and  deeply  grateful  thanks  to  Sister 
M.  F.  Clare  for  her  generous  donation  of  ;£6o  to 
alleviate  the  suffering  of  our  famine-stricken  peo- 
ple, who,  in  this  remote  and  desolate  part  of  Kerry, 
have  few  friends  to  aid  or  help  them  to  struggle 
through  this  terrible  season  of  distress  and  depres- 
sion. Were  it  not  for  the  gigantic  efforts  and  in- 
cessant appeals  made  by  Sister  M.  F.  Clare  to  all 
parts  of  the  world  in  behalf  of  our  poor  people, 
the  majority  of  them  would  be  to-day  either  in 
their  narrow  graves,  or  obliged  to  seek  a  shelter  in 
the  workhouse,  the  last  refuge  of  the  pauper.  We, 
therefore,  cannot  say  less  here  to-day  than  that 
this  true  lover  of  God's  poor  ones  has  by  her 
exertions  saved  this  whole  district  from  famine, 
as  she  has  nobly  and  generously  responded  to  the 
cry  for  help  made  to  her  from  various  quarters, 
both  by  priests  and  people." 

(Signed),  "MICHAEL  SHEEHAN,  P.P., 

"Chairman" 

This  resolution  to  be  published  in  the  daily  and 
weekly  papers. 

The  distress  in  this  parish  is  most  severe,  and 


SNEEM  COUNTY  RELIEF  COMMITTEE. 

there  is  no  employment  of  any  kind  for  the  people. 
Donations  are  urgently  requested,  which  may  be 
sent  to  any  of  the  committee,  or  to  Sister  Mary 
Francis  Clare,  Kenmare.  Help  to  purchase  seed 
is  specially  needed. 

Sneem  (Co.  Kerry]  Relief  Committee. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Sneem  Relief  Committee, 
held  in  the  court-house  on  the  twelfth  inst.,  to  con- 
sider the  claims  of  about  five  hundred  applicants 
for  relief,  on  the  motion  of  the  Rev.  M.  A.  Hor- 
gan,  C.  C.,  the  following  vote  of  thanks  to  Sister 
M.  F.  Clare  was  proposed  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Tynan, 
Protestant  Episcopal  Rector,  and  seconded  by 
Thomas  H.  Fuller,  Esq.,  — 

"  Resolved  :  That  the  special  thanks  of  the 
members  of  this  committee  are  due  to  the  distin- 
guished authoress,  Sister  Mary  Francis  Clare, 
Kenmare,  for  her  generous  donation  of  £,20 
towards  the  relief  of  our  suffering  people,  and 
that  the  secretary  be  requested  to  convey  to  her 
our  sense  of  gratitude,  inclosing  at  the  same  time 
a  copy  of  this  resolution,  and  that  it  shall  be  pub- 
lished in  the  daily  and  weekly  papers." 

(Signed),       "  REV.  T.  DAVIS,  P.  P.,  Chairman." 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

MONEY  MATTERS. 

Money  Left  at  Kenmare  —  I  Send  for  it  from    Knock  —  It  is  Refused 

—  Bishop  Higgins  Interferes — Illegal  Claims  of  the  Kenmare  Sisters 

—  Bishop  Higgins  Afraid  of  the  Secular  Courts  —  His  Opinion  of 
"  Heretical  Laws  "  —  An  Unfair  Decision  —  Letters  and  Comments 
on  the  Case  — 

IT  will  be  remembered  that  when  I  was  leaving 

Kenmare,  I  asked  Miss  L y,  who  was  then 

superioress,  to  keep  the  money  which  should  have 
been  given  to  me  on  leaving,  until  it  was  settled 
whether  I  should  remain  in  Knock  or  go  to  Newry, 
and  she  readily  consented.  In  fact,  she  knew 
very  well  that  the  Kenmare  convent  was  likely  to 
be  in  very  serious  difficulties  after  I  went,  and 
later  events  showed  that  she  had  determined  to 
keep  this  money  if  possible.  I  have  heard  since 
that  Bishop  Higgins  was  left  an  immense  sum  of 
money  after  I  left  Newry,  so  perhaps  he  shared 
with  those  who  did  his  bidding  so  well  in  my  case. 

The  arrangements  about  money  in  our  convents 
were  very  simple.  When  a  sister  went  to  another 
convent,  whatever  money  she  had  brought  with  her 
was  returned  with  her,  and  no  superior  would  dare 
to  refuse  to  do  this.  In  my  case  all  was  differ- 

128 


MY  MONEY  REFUSED  ME. 


129 


ent,  every  one  seemed  to  do  just  what  he  or 
she  pleased,  and  if  I  said  a  word  I  was  at  once 
accused  of  being  "disobedient  to  ecclesiastical 
authority  "  and  "  making  trouble." 

As  soon  as  I  was  settled  at  Knock  and  my 
ecclesiastical  position  was  settled  there  beyond  all 

dispute,  I  wrote  to  Miss  L y,  the  superioress 

at  Kenmare,  and  asked  her  to  send  the  money  to 
me.  To  my  surprise,  she  positively  refused  to 
give  it  to  me.  I  certainly  did  not  expect  this, 
well  accustomed  as  I  was  to  injustice  of  all  kinds. 
She  said  she  would  send  it  to  Newry  but  not  to 
me.  The  absurdity  of  this  did  not  seem  to  occur 
to  any  one  concerned.  It  would  be  useless  and 
uninteresting  to  record  all  the  annoyances  which 
followed.  Even  after  I  left  Kenmare,  I  had  sent 
money  to  the  sisters,  and  I  have  a  letter  of  thanks 

from  Miss  L y  for  this.  When  I  left  Kenmare, 

I  was  ready  to  forgive  the  sisters  freely  for  all  the 
trouble  which  they  had  given  me  ;  but  I  soon  found 
they  were  determined  to  keep  up  the  same  spirit 
as  before. 

In  this  letter  Miss  L y  admits  my  having 

given  $2,500  to  the  fund  for  the  poor  children, 
and  my  sending  five  hundred  more  to  add  to  it. 
When  writing  to  her  I  had  said  that,  considering 
all  I  had  done  and  collected  for  the  Kenmare  con- 
vent, I  thought  it  would  be  only  just  if  she  and 


130 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


the  sisters  would  give  me  a  small  addition  to  the 
money  which  I  had  a  right  to  claim  ;  I  did  not 
know  myself,  and  I  do  not  think  any  of  those  con- 
cerned really  knew  what  the  canon  law  on  the 
subject  was.  But  under  the  circumstances  there 
should  not  have  been  any  question  of  the  strict 
rights  of  the  case,  when  I  came  to  leave  the  sisters 
so  much  after  doing  so  much  for  them  in  so  many 
ways  ;  if  they  had  one  spark  of  good  feeling  they 
should  have  even  stretched  a  point  to  do  anything 
I  asked.  If  I  had  asked  even  for  half  of  all  I  had 
earned  for  the  convent  by  my  writings,  or  that  had 
been  left  to  me  by  legacy,  they  might  have  ob- 
jected. But  they  refused  even  to  give  me  what 
had  been  given  to  every  sister  who  had  left  the 
convent  before.  Even  the  money  which  was  left 
for  masses  they  would  not  give.  This  was  a  posi- 
tive outrage,  as  they  should  have  been  even  more 
particular  about  this  than  the  other  sums,  for  sis- 
ters are  supposed  to  be  very  particular  in  relig- 
ious matters ;  Miss  O'Hagan  had  taken  good  care 
to  bring  this  money  with  her  when  we  came  to 
Kenmare,  saying  that  it  was  only  right  that  the 
masses  should  be  said  wherever  I  was.  If  she 
had  been  living,  and  if  her  long  period  of  ill  health 
had  not  so  completely  demoralized  the  sisters,  I 
think  some,  at  least,  of  this  evil  might  have 
been  saved,  But  ideas  of  right  and  wrong  used 


BISHOP  HIGGINS  INTERFERES.  131 

to  get  curiously  mixed  when   my  affairs   were   in 
question. 

Bishop  Higgins  now  took  up  the  matter  and 
wrote  quite  a  number  of  indignant  letters,  taking 
it  for  granted,  as  usual,  that  no  one  knew  anything 
about  canon  law  but  himself.  I  believe  his  mind 
was  thoroughly  confused  by  the  sisters.  He  had 
no  other  way  of  knowing  anything  about  the 
affairs  of  the  convent,  except  what  they  told  him, 
and  as  they  laid  themselves  out  to  please,  him  in 
every  way  no  doubt  he  was  easily  satisfied,  and  it 
must  be  said  that  a  sister  who  could  forge  a 
despatch  merely  for  the  purpose  of  giving  pain  to 
one  who  had  never  given  her  any  cause  of  annoy- 
ance, was  not  likely  to  lose  a  safe  and  easy  oppor- 
tunity of  doing  her  an  injury  if  she  had  a  purpose 
to  gain.  I  saw  a  letter  which  was  written  by  this 
sister  to  a  bishop,  whom  she  hoped  to  prejudice 
against  me,  which  contained  the  most  absurd  accu- 
sations, and  at  last  I  came  to  realize  the  source  of 
many,  if  not  of  all,  the  scandalous  stories  that  had 
been  circulated  about  me.  How  could  people  sup- 
pose that  those  for  whom  I  had  labored  so  long 
could  turn  against  me  in  this  way  !  As  I  was 
quite  in  the  dark  myself,  how  could  I  suspect  the 

actual    originators  of   the    report?    Miss  L y 

told  this  bishop  that   I  wanted  to  claim  all  the 
money  which  I  had  made  by  the  sale  of  my  books. 


132 


THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


This  was  not  true,  and  she  knew  it  was  not  true, 
but  she  did  not  tell  this  bishop  that  she  had  re- 
fused to  pay  what  she  was  lawfully  obliged  to  do. 

The  whole  question  of  property,  where  the  rights 
of  authorship  is  concerned,  is  very  little  known 
even  to  the  most  learned  theologians.  It  de- 
pends on  the  nature  of  the  vows ;  that  is,  whether 
they  are  what  is  called  simple  or  solemn.  The 
vows  of  the  Irish  Poor  Clares  are  simple  vows. 
As  far  .as  I  could  learn,  the  Kenmare  sisters  had  a 
right  to  the  money  I  earned  by  my  writings  while 
I  was  in  Kenmare,  but  they  had  no  right  or  claim 
on  my  writings  after  I  left.  It  was  very  remarka- 
ble how  anxious  they  were  about  the  strict  observ- 
ance of  canon  law  and  how  very  unhappy  they 
were  about  me,  and  how  scandalized  if  they 
thought  the  law  could  be  in  any  way  construed 

against  them.     Miss  L y  indeed  wrote  a  letter 

in  which  she  laments  with  much  pious  grief  over 
my  supposed  grievous  sin  in  asking  her  to  do  her 
plain  duty.  Bishop  Higgins,  as  usual,  was  quite 
sure  he,  and  he  alone,  was  the  only  bishop  in  Ire- 
land who  was  capable  of  deciding  his  own  case 
correctly.  In  a  letter  to  a  much  perplexed  bishop, 
now  before  me,  he  utters  sad  lamentations  over 
my  supposed*  wickedness  in  thinking  of  appealing 
to  the  "  secular  courts  "  though  I  never  had  any 
idea  of  doing  anything  of  the  kind.  To  appeal  to 


A   REMARKABLE  LETTER. 


133 


"  the  secular  courts "  would  be  a  "  crying  scan- 
dal." It  is  remarkable  how  much  some  bishops 
are  afraid  of  public  opinion  or  investigation.  In 
the  conclusion  of  this  remarkable  letter,  which  was 
sent  to  me  by  the  bishop  to  whom  it  was  addressed, 
he  says,  — 

"  As  the  case  seems  to  arise  in  the  province 
of  Munster,  Dr.  Croke  is  the  proper  judge.  Let 
her  bring  her  case  before  him.  Let  him  not 
arbitrate  (sic)  pronounce  the  law  upon  it,  and  if  I 
see  no  clear  reason  to  question  his  official  judg- 
ment, I  shall  submit.  But  to  submit  such  a  ques- 
tion to  a  tribunal  ruled  by  heretical  laws  is  a 
treason  I  shall  not  be  guilty  of." 

And  though  this  bishop  was  so  determined  not 
to  submit  "  to  the  heretical  laws  "  of  the  English 
government,  where  he  was  concerned  himself,  he 
refused  the  rites  of  Christian  burial  to  a  poor  boy, 
because  without  any  intention  whatever  of  vio- 
lating these  laws,  of  which  Bishop  Higgins  had 
such  a  pious  horror,  he  had*  happened  to  be  killed 
accidentally  near  the  place  where  some  moonlight 
outrage  was  being  perpetrated.  To  obey  the  law 
was  a  "  sacrilege  "  when  there  was  any  fear  that  it 
might  cause  justice  to  be  done  to  a  sister.  But 
even  to  appear  to  disobey  it,  when  a  poor  man 
was  in  question,  was  a  crime  to  be  visited  with  the 
severest  penalties  of  the  church, 


134  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

Further,  it  should  be  remarked  that  Bishop 
Higgins  expresses  his  willingness  to  submit  to  the 
archbishop's  decision,  if  he  finds  that  this  decision 
is  in  his  favor.  If  it  is  not,  he  will  have  none  of  it. 

The  case  was  decided  as  usual  where  I  was  con- 
cerned. I  had  to  take  what  I  could  get,  and  be 
thankful.  I  got  the  money  for  masses,  at  last, 
which  had  been  kept  from  me  so  long.  It  was  an- 
other of  many  evidences  from  which  I  have  seen 
the  difference  between  Roman  Catholic  teaching, 
and  Roman  Catholic  practice.  I  had  to  allow  the 
sisters  to  take  what  they  pleased ;  I  had  to  pay 
them  a  thousand  dollars  to  be  allowed  the  sale  of 
my  own  books.  But  I  would  have  borne  more 
than  this  for  peace.  The  circumstances  of  my 
case  were,  of  course,  unusual,  and  therefore,  ac- 
cording to  secular  law,  I  should  have  had  the 
benefit  of  any  doubt.  But  it  is  not  so  with  eccle- 
siastical law ;  the  bishop  gets,  or,  which  is 
practically  the  same,  takes  the  benefit  of  any  and 
everything. 

I  do  not  profess  to  know  much  about  canon  law, 
but  I  made  inquiries  of  several  very  eminent 
canonists,  and  they  were  all  unanimous  in  my 
favor.  Of  course,  I  knew  well  that  it  would  have 
been  quite  useless  to  offer  their  opinions  to  Bishop 
Higgins  as  he  had  said  plainly  that  he  would  not 
accept  any  opinion  unless  it  was  in  his  own  favor 


ENTITLED    TO  MY  COPYRIGHT. 


135 


(see  his  letter,  quoted  above),  even  though  that 
opinion  should  be  given  by  his  own  ecclesiastical 
superior. 

In  the  first  place,  I  had  a  right  to  whatever 
advantage  the  fact  of  my  having  made  only  simple 
vows  gave  me.  A  Jesuit  father  told  me  when  one 
of  their  fathers,  who  was  an  author,  was  sent  from 
one  house  of  their  order  to  another,  that  the  in-, 
come  from  the  sale  of  his  books  went  with  him. 
Bishop  Higgins  got  to  hear  this,  and  he  wrote  a 
very  angry  letter  to  this  father  in  consequence, 
which  the  father  sent  to  me. 

In  the  second  place,  and  I  believe  this  was  a 
very  important  point  in  canon  law,  I  had  been  for 
years  the  publisher  of  my  books ;  they  were  pub- 
lished in  my  name,  M.  F.  Cusack,  and  the  copy- 
rights were  in  my  name,  and  this  had  been  done 
with  the  full  knowledge  and  consent  of  the  com- 
munity. The  law  of  the  land  was  on  my  side,  as 
Bishop  Higgins  well  knew,  and  this  was  why  he 
had  such  a  dread  of  any  appeal  to  it.  It  did  not 
follow,  however,  that  canon  law  and  civil  law 
should  agree,  but  I  have  heard  canonists  say  that 
in  a  doubtful  case,  civil  law  should  have  weight,  in 
an  ecclesiastical  decision  ;  that  is,  if  the  bishop 
allows  it. 

I  saw  also  a  letter  from  Miss  L y  to  a  bishop, 

in  which  she  tried,  with  more  ingenuity  than  hon- 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

esty,  to  make  out  that  the  sale  of  my  books  was 
not  of  so  much  advantage  to  the  convent  after  all. 
But  if  this  was  true,  it  only  showed  still  more 
their  animus  against  me,  in  trying  to  deprive  me  of 
them.  The  way  in  which  she  made  out  her  case 
was  amusing ;  I  had  often  been  much  annoyed  by 
the  great,  but,  to  a  certain  extent,  excusable  igno- 
rance of  the  sisters  on  business  matters.  They 
knew  that  I  had  to  pay  out  very  large  sums  of 
money  to  printers  and  others,  and,  with  almost 
childish  ignorance,  they  thought  that  all  this  was 
so  much  money  taken  from  the  convent.  They 
were  too  ignorant  to  understand  that  if  this  outlay 
had  not  been  made,  there  could  not  have  been  a 
return  of  profit  for  themselves.  And  this  brings 
me  to  the  last,  and  not  the  least  important  point 
of  this  case.  For  years,  with  the  consent  of 
Bishop  Moriarty,  I  had  kept  an  account  in  the 
Kenmare  Bank  in  my  own  name  -for  the  books. 
The  money  received  from  sales  was  placed  by  me 
in  my  name,  M.  F.  Cusack,  and  I  drew  checks  in 
my  own  name  to  pay  the  bills,  so  the  money  con- 
nected with  the  sales  of  my  books  was  a  separate 
and  personal  account  of  my  own  ;  and,  I  must  say, 
that  the  sisters  were  very  inconsiderate  of  my  con- 
venience. Often  when  they  wanted  money  to  pay 
a  bill,  for  convent  expenses,  they  would  come  to 
me  and  insist  on  getting  it,  though  I  might  want 


COMMENTS  ON  THE   CASE.  ^7 

it  myself  urgently  to  pay  my  own  bills.  It  mat- 
tered not  what  suffering  and  inconvenience  I  had 
to  endure,  so  that  I  often  had  great  care  on  my 
mind.  I  always  wished  to  pay  all  the  printing 
accounts  first,  and  then  let  them  have  what  was 
clear  profit,  but  I  was  always  overruled  in  every- 
thing. 

After  Bishop  Moriarty's  death,  and  while  Bishop 
Higgins  was  parish  priest  of  Kenmare,  he  said  it 
was  quite  wrong  for  me  to  have  this  private  ac- 
count. It  was  in  vain  that  I  said  it  had  been 
arranged  by  Bishop  Moriarty.  Bishop  Higgins 
was  always  sure  he  was  a  better  authority  than 
any  one  else,  and,  as  he  insisted,  I  gave,  up  my  ac- 
count, and  signed  a  check  to  the  credit  of  the 
superior,  and  all  the  money  I  had  in  hand  went 
into  the  convent  fund.  To  myself,  personally,  this 
made  no  difference,  as  even  if  I  had  wished  it,  I 
could  not  have  used  any  of  this  money  for  myself 
in  any  way.  I  told  this  to  Bishop  McCarthy  when 
he  became  bishop,  and  he  told  me  Father  Higgins 
was  quite  wrong,  and  that  he  had  no  right  to  inter- 
fere in  the  matter,  as  he  was  not  our  bishop,  then. 
He  said  if  I  wished  I  could  go  back  to  the  old 
arrangement,  but  I  did  not  care  to  change  again. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

BISHOP   HIGGINS'S    TREATMENT  OF   SISTERS   AND 
PRIESTS. 

Changes  at  Kenmare  —  Death  of  Father  John  — Of  Miss  O'Hagan  — 
Interference  of  Father  Higgins  —  Ill-treatment  by  the  Sisters  — 
Bishop  Higgins's  Arbitrary  Management  —  I  am  Boycotted  by  Him 
—  Loss  of  Money  —  Other  Sisters  Oppressed  by  Bishop  Higgins  — 
The  Saurin  Case  —  A  New  York  Case  —  A  Sane  Sister  Sent  to  Black- 
well's  Island  —  Her  Rescue. 

I  must  now  return  to  my  own  history,  from  which 
I  have  digressed  in  order  to  give  the  account  of 
my  work  in  the  famine  year  consecutively.  It 
will  be  seen  that  I  had  exceptional  sources  of  in- 
formation as  to  the  condition  of  Ireland,  and  as  to 
the  cause  of  the  chronic  discontent  of  the  Irish 
people. 

I  knew  well  that  there  were  thousands  of  honor- 
able and  honest  Englishmen  who  would  gladly  do 
justice  to  the  Irish  people  if  they  only  knew  what 
could  be  done,  but  every  one  suggested  a  different 
remedy  until  the  case  seemed  hopeless. 

And  yet  to  me  it  seemed  so  simple :  the  land- 
lords wanted  their  rents,  and  the  people  could  not 
pay  them  while  they  had  not  even  money  to  pur- 
chase food.  In  many  cases  the  landlords  were 
harsh  and  exacting,  and  in  some  cases  the  people 

138 


FAILURE   OF   THE   POTATO   CROP. 

took  advantage  of  the  disorganized  state  of  affairs 
to  refuse  rents  which  they  could  have  paid.  But 
whoever  was  to  blame,  it  certainly  was  a  miserable 
state  of  affairs,  and  it  has  often  surprised  me  that 
the  English  people  have  borne  it  so  long.  The 
state  of  Ireland  is  not  creditable  to  nineteenth 
century  civilization. 

The  obvious  cause  of  this  inability  to  pay  rent 
was  the  failure  of  the  potato  crop.  It  seemed  to 
me  that  one  of  two  courses  should  have  been 
adopted  ;  either  to  find  another  crop  on  which  the 
people  could  subsist,  or  to  find  some  source  of 
remunerative  employment  for  the  people.  The 
climatic  conditions  of  the  country  are  such  that  it 
would  be  very  difficult  to  find  a  substitute  for  the 
potato.  But  at  least  the  potato  crop  should  not 
have  been  allowed  to  degenerate.  I  have  already 
quoted  from  a  letter  on  this  subject  written  to  me 
by  the  Protestant  rector  of  one  of  the  largest  par- 
ishes in  the  county  Cork,  and  I  received  many 
other  communications  to  the  same  effect.  I  there- 
fore made  it  a  special  point  to  protect  the  people 
against  future  famine  by  getting  a  supply  of  good 
seed  potatoes  from  Scotland  ;  but  the  little  I  could 
do  was  but  a  drop  in  the  ocean.  When  the  people 
were  crying  out  for  food  to  save  them  from  starva- 
tion, there  could  not  be  a  question  of  providing  for 
the  future.  Still,  where  I  was  able  to  give  seed, 


NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

and  to  secure  that  it  should  be  planted  and  not 
eaten,  I  have  found  the  good  results  were  lasting, 
even  to  the  present  day.  The  other  plan  of  pro- 
viding some  employment  for  the  people  did  not 
seem  to  me  altogether  impracticable  ;  I  began  to 
do  this  in  a  modest  way  at  Knock,  and  I  think  the 
history  of  my  failure  is  as  instructive  as  it  is  sad. 
The  Irish  are  themselves  one  of  the  great  obsta- 
cles to  their  own  prosperity.  But  in  judging  them 
we  must  always  consider  their  peculiar  circum- 
stances. For  centuries  they  have  been  deliber- 
ately forbidden  all  commercial  industries  by  the 
English  people,  and  when  an  attempt  like  that 
which  I  began  so  successfully  at  Knock,  is  put 
down  by  the  priest,  what  can  the  people  do  ? 

But  I  must  return  to  my  life  at  Kenmare.  The 
sisters  having  a  lace  industry  there,  I  knew  it 
would  be  useless  for  me  to  suggest  anything  else. 
It  was  a  good  show  for  visitors,  and  as  a  great 
deal  of  the  lace  which  was  sold  to  tourists  was 
made  by  the  sisters,  it  really  was  of  very  little 
practical  use  to  those  who  were  supposed  to  get 
the  benefit  of  it.  Of  course  it  was  an  indirect 
benefit  to  them,  but  I  am  considering  now  the 
very  important  question  of  a  work  which  should 
be  of  future  benefit  to  the  people.  I  think  few 
who  have  not  lived  in  Ireland  can  realize  all  the 
difficulties  which  come,  and  are  put  in  the  way  of, 


THE  LACE  INDUSTRY. 


141 


any  effort  to  do  common-sense  practical  work  for 
the  Irish  people. 

I  often  saw  this  lace  sold  to  tourists  by  the  sis- 
ters as  the  work  of  the  girls  ;  they  had  no  idea  of 
being  deceitful,  and  no  doubt  thought  the  benefit 
to  the  institution  justified  them. 

But,  as  already  explained,  the  work  was  a  very 
useless  one  for  poor  girls.  In  the  first  place,  it 
entirely  unfitted  them  for  any  other  kind  of  work. 
The  sisters  and  the  girls  who  did  this  exquisite 
lace  could  not  touch  any  other  kind  of  work ; 
their  hands  had  to  be  kept  as  soft  and  smooth  as 
the  hands  of  a  lady  of  fashion.  If  a  regular  set  of 
girls  could  have  been  employed  in  this  work,  and 
in  no  other  way,  it  might  have  been  a  benefit  to 
them,  but  this  was  impossible.  Only  a  very  few 
girls  could  have  made  a  living  by  it  even  under 
the  most  favorable  circumstances.  What,  then, 
was  to  become  of  the  rest  ? 

It  was  certain  that  ninety-five  per  cent  of  these 
girls  would  have  to  make  their  living  by  very  hard 
work,  and  for  this  they  were  entirely  unprepared. 
I  saw  the  evil,  I  saw  the  remedy,  but  I  was  power- 
less to  apply  it.  Irish  sisters  are  somewhat  easy- 
going, like  the  rest  of  their  country  people,  and 
are  inclined  to  "  let  well  enough  alone,"  and  their 
idea  of  what  is  well  enough,  is  apt  to  be  "  what 
has  been."  It  was  "good  enough"  for  those  who 


142 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


went  before  them,  it  was  a  sort  of  religious  trea- 
son to  suggest  change,  and  woe  to  the  hapless 
being  who  ventured  to  do  so.  I  was  simply  a 
unit ;  what  could  I  do  ? 

Shortly  before  the  famine,  Father  John's  health 
quite  broke  down.  It  was  very  sad,  for  we  all 
loved  him  dearly.  If  he  had  been  in  his  full 
health  and  vigor  at  this  time,  and  seen  how  easily 
a  great  work  could  have  been  done  for  his  people, 
I  am  sure  he  would  have  helped  me  in  every  way 
to  carry  it  out.  But  his  life  work  was  done,  and 
for  some  time  before  his  death  his  mind  quite  gave 
way,  and  the  noble  tree  withered  from  the  top. 

Father  John's  death  was  a  great  shock  to  Miss 
O'Hagan.  She  never  was  quite  the  same  after- 
wards ;  all  the  circumstances  of  his  death  were 
made  more  painful  by  the  restrictions  of  our  rule 
of  inclosure,  which  were  such  that  we  could  not 
attend  him  on  his  deathbed.  This  troubled  Miss 
O'Hagan  very  much  for  many  reasons  ;  but  I  have 
often  thought  that  it  was  a  blessing  both  for  him 
and  her,  for  she  was  what  I  can  only  describe  as 
fussy  and  excitable  in  a  sickroom  ;  she  would 
have  done  herself  harm,  and  have  been  no  real 
comfort  to  him.  Our  vow  of  inclosure  was  cer- 
tainly anomalous.  When  Father  John  was  dying 
we  could  not  go  to  him  ;  when  he  was  living  he 
could  go  into  any  part  of  the  convent  and  bring 


DEATH  OF  FATHER  JOHN.  ^3 

strangers  of  either  sex  with  him.  We  were  shut 
in  to  a  certain  extent,  but  strangers  were  not  shut 
out.  Visitors  were  naturally  curious  to  see  the 
rooms  occupied  by  the  sisters ;  and,  above  all,  to 
see  the  more  private  apartments  of  the  sisters, 
such  as  the  "cells,"  as  the  rooms  are  called  where 
the  sisters  sleep.  These  were  always  shown  to 
visitors  at  Kenmare,  and  no  doubt  it  removed 
some  prejudice  in  regard  to  sisters  when  it  was 
seen  that  cells  were  not  such  very  dreadful  places, 
though  it  seemed  to  me  that  to  bring  strangers 
through  them  was  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  our 
rule. 

Father  John  went  to  his  eternal  reward  in 
November,  1874.  His  end  was  peace.  I  believe 
he  was  quite  unconscious  for  some  days  previ- 
ous ;  I  was  told  that  he  asked  especially  for  me, 
and  that  at  one  time,  not  seeing  the  sisters  round 
him  and  not  being  able  to  realize  the  unavoidable 
cause  of  their  absence,  he  felt  much  depressed. 
Whether  it  was  a  fancy  of  sickness,  or  that  a  good 
Providence  allowed  it  for  his  consolation,  I  know 
not ;  but  I  was  told  that  he  said  to  those  who 
were  watching  near  him,  in  a  moment  after,  quite 
joyfully,  "There  is  Francis  Clare,"  as  he  always 
called  me  ;  "  I  knew  she  would  not  leave  me." 

As  I  have  said,  Miss  O'Hagan's  health  was 
always  very  delicate,  and  she  was  almost  reckless 


144 


THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


with  regard  to  it.  I  was  the  only  one  who  had 
any  influence  with  her,  or  could  dissuade  her  from 
doing  the  most  imprudent  things.  The  position  of 
a  superior  in  a  religious  house  is  something  very 
different  from  what  those  outside  imagine  it  to  be, 
even  amongst  Roman  Catholics.  She  has  not  an 
easy  task,  she  has  to  keep  peace  with  the  sisters 
and  amongst  the  sisters.  She  has  to  be  respon- 
sible to  the  ecclesiastical  superior  not  only  for 
what  she  does  herself,  but  for  what  others  do. 
She  must  set  the  first  example  in  everything. 
Whether  she  is  able  or  not  she  is  expected  to 
attend  every  duty  and  every  call.  No  wonder 
that  so  many  superiors  of  religious  houses  break 
down  completely  in  health  after  a  few  years.  A 
superior  who  is  sensitive  to  public  opinion  is  sure 
to  do  so.  Her  absence  from  any  duty  is  remarked 
upon  and  criticised,  when  the  absence  of  others  is 
passed  by  unnoticed.  If  any  care  is  taken  of  her 
health,  no  matter  how  necessary  it  may  be,  it 
becomes  a  subject  of  remark,  and  is  attributed  to 
anything  but  the  right  cause.  I  do.  not  say  that 
this  is  always  .so,  but  I  know  that  it  is  often  so. 

Not  .long  before  I  took  the  step  which  has 
necessitated  the  publication  of  this  book,  I  re 
ceived  a  letter  which  is  an  evidence  of  this.  A 
sister  wrote  to  me  from  one  of  our  convents  in 
England  :  — 


MISS  O'HAGAN'S  SENSITIVENESS. 


145 


"I   find   that    Father is    talking    just    the 

same  way  about  dear  Sister  M.  B as  Father 

John  did  about  you  at  Knock ;  you  know  how 
delicate  she  is,  and  how  sensitive  she  is,  I  do 
believe  it  will  kill  her.  He  says  she  could  get  up 
to  mass  every  clay,  if  she  liked.  But  you  know  she 
cannot,  and  how  valuable  her  life  is  to  us  all.  He 
says  the  sisters  will  be  disedified  if  she  does  not." 

I  replied  very  decidedly  that  I  did  not  care 
whether  the  sisters  were  disedified  or  not,  or  the 
priests  either ;  even  if  her  life  was  not  so  valuable 
to  us  all,  I  should  insist  upon  any  sister  under  my 
charge  doing  everything  that  was  necessary  for 
her  health  and  ordinary  comfort.  But  I  knew 
all  the  same  how  hard  it  is  for  a  sister  in  charge 
of  others  as  she  was,  to  do  anything  different 
from  others.  Miss  O'Hagan  certainly  had  no 
cause  to  fear  any  remarks  that  might  be  made  on 
her  by  either  priest  or  sisters,  her  brother's  posi- 
tion was  a  sufficient  protection  for  her  ;  but  from 
some  sensitiveness,  or  pride,  or  peculiarity  of  dis- 
position, she  felt  very  keenly  any  remark  that 
might  be  made  about  her.  I  have  often  seen  her 
going  about  the  convent  almost  in  a  state  of 
collapse,  when  she  ought  to  have  been  resting, 
and  she  often  distressed  others  by  this  so  much,  as 
to  do  away  with  much  good  she  might  otherwise 
have  done. 


146  TaE    NUN  OF  KENMARE, 

Father  Higgins  came  to  be  parish  priest  of 
Kenmare  the  Christmas  after  Father  John's  death. 

At  first  he  showed  me  every  kindness,  and  I 
hoped  I  had  found  in  him  another  good  friend,  if 
not  another  Father  John.  He  devoted  himself  to 
Miss  O'Hagan  in  every  way  possible,  from  the  first 
moment  of  his  arrival.  Father  Higgins  was  a 
special  favorite  of  Bishop  Moriarty,  and  who  was 
still  living ;  he  took  the  same  views  of  political 
affairs,  and  was  decidedly,  to  all  intents  and  pur- 
poses, a  "  landlord  priest " ;  he,  too,  naturally 
gravitated  to  persons  of  Lord  O'Hagan's  position 
and  influence.  Even  then  he  was  looking  to  the 
much-coveted  mitre,  as  Bishop  Moriarty  made  it 
no  secret  that  he  had  sent  in  an  urgent  petition  to 
Rome  that  Father  Higgins  might  be  appointed  his 
coadjutor.  Bishop  Moriarty  died  soon  after,  and 
it  seemed  as  if  all  my  best  friends  would  be  taken 
from  me.  During  the  long  illness  which  preceded 
Miss  O'Hagan's  death,  I  was  confined  to  my  room 
by  severe  illness,  and  indeed  I  scarcely  cared  to 
leave  it.  There  was  practically  no  head  to  the 
convent,  and  very  great  evils  resulted,  which  I 
neither  anticipated  nor  could  have  imagined  pos- 
sible, and  I  found  afterwards  that  when  I  never 
even  suspected  it,  Father  Higgins's  mind  was 
being  prejudiced  against  me  in  my  absence.  I 
do  not  suppose  it  would  have  made  the  least 


INTRIGUING  SISTERS.  itf 

difference,  even  if  I  had  been  warned  in  time ; 
those  who  had  an  object  to  gain  were  always  on 
the  spot  to  carry  out  their  plans.  I  was  always 
suffering  alone,  and  knew  very  little  of  what 
passed  in  the  community,  and,  unfortunately  for 
myself  I  was  very  unsuspicious,  so  those  who  had 
an  end  to  gain  had  it  all  their  own  way. 

The  sister  of  whom  I  have  spoken  before  as 
having  been  so  absorbed  in  grief  on  account  of 
her  brother's  conduct,  which  was  now  known  far 
and  wide,  was  acting  in  Miss  O'Hagan's  place  as 
superior,  and  was  singularly  unfit  for  the  office. 
She  was  full  of  prejudice,  had  very  little  educa- 
tion, and  naturally  was  led  and  guided  by  the 
young  sisters  who  taught  in  the  schools,  and  on 
whose  services  she  was  so  entirely  dependent  that 
she  was  obliged  to  let  them  treat  every  one  in  the 
house  as  they  pleased,  so  long  as  they  kept  up  the 
schools.  It  need  scarcely  be  said  that  this  was 
not  the  way  to  promote  the  general  good  of  a  re- 
ligious house ;  but  it  was  the  only  way  she  knew. 
Many  a  time  during  Miss  O'Hagan's  long  illness, 
sisters  came  to  me  to  complain  of  the  way  these  sis- 
ters acted  towards  the  other  sisters  who  were  not  in 
their  good  graces,  but  I  was  powerless  to  help ;  in 
fact,  I  needed  protection  from  them  myself.  There 
were  other  sisters  in  the  schools  better  educated 
than  they  were,  and  of  better  families,  and  these 


148  THE   NUN    OF  KENMARE. 

poor  sisters  often  came  to  me  in  tears  to  complain 
of  the  way  they  were  treated  before  the  children  ; 
since  I  came  to  America  I  have  met  many  of 
the  girls  who  have  been  educated  in  the  Kenmare 
schools  who  told  me  how  often  they  had  seen  the 
way  in  which  some  of  the  gentlest  and  best  sisters 
in  the  schools  were  insulted  before  all  the  children 
at  this  time.  Even  when  Miss  O'Hagan  had  her 
ordinary  health  and,  vigor,  she  had  trouble  enough 
in  these  matters. 

Somewhat  to  the  surprise  of  a  great  many  peo- 
ple, Dr.  McCarthy,  who  had  been  president  of 
Maynooth  College  for  many  years,  was  appointed 
Bishop  of  Kerry  in  Bishop  Moriarty's  place.  Why 
Father  Higgins  did  not  get  the  mitre  then,  I  do  not 
know.  I  really  feel  unwilling  to  write  many  things 
here  which  are  a  necessary  explanation  of  my  posi- 
tion and  difficulties,  but  they  have  been  made  so 
public  by  the  parties  themselves  that  I  have  not 
the  same  delicacy  about  the  matter  which  I  should 
have  under  other  circumstances. 

It  should  be  said  that  at  this  time  Father  Hig- 
gins and  his  friends  were  confident  that  he  would 
be  made  bishop.  I  received  a  letter  from  a  person 
in  New  York,  who  was  very  intimate  with  many 
priests,  and  who  asked  me  if  I  remembered  one 
occasion  in  Kenmare,  about  this  time,  when  Father 
H n  breakfasted  at  the  convent  with  Father 


UNJUST   TREATMENT.  149 

/ 

Higgins.  Miss  O'Hagan  was  living  then,  and  she 
I  were  both  present.  Dr.  McCarthy's  nomination 
had  not  then  been  made  public.  Some  of  us  spoke 
of  Father  Higgins's  possible  success  ;  he  certainly 
gave  us  all  reason  to  think  he  had  got  the  appoint- 
ment, but  he  would  not  say  so  definitely.  "  Father 

H n,"  said  my  correspondent,  "  saw  him  look  at 

you  in  a  way  that  did  not  promise  well  for  your 
future  happiness,  as  he  thought  you  preferred  Dr. 
McCarthy,  which  certainly  you  could  not  be 
blamed  for  doing,  as  he  had  been  such  a  devoted 
friend  of  yours  for  so  many  years." 

I  must  say  I  tried  to  give  no  cause  of  offence, 
and  to  be  very  careful  in  giving. any  opinions.  In 
fact,  I  found  myself  so  perpetually  misrepresented 
by  the  sisters  that  I  kept  silence  on  all  subjects, 
and,  as  I  have  said,  on  the  rare  occasions  when  I 
was  able  to  come  to  the  recreation,  I  was  not 
allowed  to  speak,  as  the  sisters  would  not  reply  to 
any  remark  I  made,  so  that  I  preferred  to  remain  in 
my  own  room.  It  may  be  said,  how  could  sisters  be 
guilty  of  such  inhumanity  and  injustice  ?  It  may 
as  well  be  asked  how  there  comes  to  be  so  much 
evil  in  the  world  ?  I  may  also  say,  when  the  supe- 
rior of  a  religious  house  was  capable  of  forging  a 
despatch  for  the  purpose  of  giving  me  pain,  was  it 
likely  that  she  would  hesitate  to  do  any  other  act 
of  injustice  ?  I  may  also  add  that  I  heard  from  a 


150 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


priest  lately,  who  knew  all  the  circumstances  of 
the  case,  that  he  knew  from  one  of  the  principal 
parties  concerned,  that  the  sisters  were  constantly 
telling  Father  Higgins  that  I  said  and  did  things 
I  never  even  dreamed  of  saying  or  doing.  I  was 
slow  to  suspect  them  ;  certainly,  even  during  all 
this  miserable  time,  I  never  refused  to  help  the 
sisters  and  their  friends,  on  whose  wants  I  ex- 
pended many  hundreds  of  dollars  —  I  might  say 
thousands.  I  did  often  feel  it  was  hard  that  they 
should  come  to  me  only  when  they  were  in  trouble, 
or  wanted  something  for  themselves  or  their 
friends,  but  I  never  refused  them.  In  one  case  I 
paid  all  the  expenses  of  the  near  relatives  of  a 
sister  to  Australia,  and  also  procured  an  excellent 
situation  in  Dublin  for  a  brother,  which  he  still 
holds,  and  yet  the  sister  for  whose  family  I  did 
all  this  was  one  of  the  most  unkind  to  me,  and  I 
never  received  one  word  of  thanks  from  her  or 
those  for  whom  I  provided.  I  have  no  doubt  that 
Father  Higgins  was  deceived  by  the  sisters  to  an 
extent  he  never  suspected,  and  probably  would 
not  believe.  No  man  likes  to  admit,  even  to  him- 
self, that  he  has  been  the  victim  in  such  a  case. 

During  the  long  period  of  Miss  O'Hagan's  ill- 
ness, there  was  naturally  considerable  discussion  as 
to  her  successor.  Those  who  are  least  fitted  for 
the  office  of  a  superior  are  generally  most  anxious 


A   SINGULAR   INTERVIEW.  ^j 

to  get   it.      For   many   reasons    I    thought    Miss 

L ,  who  had  been  acting  with  more  or   less 

incapacity  during  this  time,  was  the  most  suitable 
person  to  succeed  her.  It  is  true  she  was  always 
lamenting  over  her  poor  brother,  but  I  hoped  the 
responsibility  of  the  office  would  bring  her  to  a 
happier  frame  of  mind  ;  besides,  I  had  seen  so 
much  evil  arise  from  having  such  an  office  in  the 
hands  of  a  person  in  delicate  health,  like  Miss 
O'Hagan,  that  her  robust  health  also  made  her 
advisable  for  the  position.  It  seemed  to  me,  how- 
ever, very  unbecoming  to  have  the  subject  dis- 
cussed while  poor  Miss  O'Hagan  was  living,  even 
though  her  recovery  was  quite  despaired  of ;  but  I 
was  never  allowed  to  express  an  opinion  on  any 
subject,  so  I  kept  my  thoughts  to  myself.  I  was 
not  a  little  surprised  when  I  was  asked  to  go  to 
the  parlor  one  day  to  see  a  sister  of  one  of  the  sis- 
ters. This  person  was  a  widow,  and  very  poor ; 
her  late  husband  had  belonged  to  a  very  respecta- 
ble Protestant  family  in  the  neighborhood,  and 
though  they  took  very  little  notice  of  her  in  her 
husband's  lifetime,  as  they  were  naturally  angry  at 
the  marriage  he  had  made,  which  they  considered 
quite  beneath  him,yet  after  his  death  they  befriended 
the  poor  woman  a  good  deal,  by  giving  her  cloth- 
ing for  her  children,  and  paying  for  their  school- 
ing. The  woman  took  what  she  got  with  very 


152  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

little  thanks  to  her  benefactors.  Family  pride  ran 
high  in  Kenmare,  as  it  does  so  often  in  Ireland, 
and  this  woman  considered  herself  and  her  family 
quite  as  good  as  the  family  of  her  late  husband. 
Hence  considerable  recriminations,  and  a  great  deal 
of  thanklessness  for  benefits.  To  my  surprise, 
Mrs.  M did  not  want  me,  as  usual,  to  do  some- 
thing for  herself  or  her  family  ;  she  had  come  on  a 
very  different  mission.  Being  a  roughly  spoken 
and  uneducated  person,  she  came  out  plain  and 
straight  with  her  object.  It  was  to  tell  me  that 
Father  Higgins  had  been  at  her  father's  house  to 
say  Mass  that  morning,  and  that  he  had  quite  de- 
cided that  her  sister,  Sister  M J ,  was  the 

proper  person  to  succeed  Miss  O'Hagan.  I  cer- 
tainly was  very  much  displeased  at  the  want  of 
common  decency  in  disposing  of  poor  Miss 
O'Hagan's  office  before  she  was  dead,  and  at  this 
piece  of  impertinent  interference  on  the  part  of 
those  who  had  no  right  whatever  to  interfere  in  a 
matter  of  such  grave  importance.  In  the  choice 
of  a  superior  in  most  religious  orders  the  person  is 
voted  for  by  the  sisters  only,  and  by  a  strictly  pri- 
vate ballot. 

Indeed,  all  the  regulations  of  the  Roman  Church 
are  as  nearly  perfect  as  possible  in  these  matters. 
But  human  frailty,  which  made  even  Paradise  a 
desolation,  comes  in  everywhere,  and  blights  if  it 


AN  UNFORTUNATE  SELECTION.  153 

cannot  destroy.  As  it  happened,  there  could 
scarcely  have  been  a  worse  choice  than  this  one, 
or  one  on  which  the  sisters  were  less  likely  to 

agree.     Sister  J 's  temper  was  notorious,  her 

manner  anything  but  refined  or  ladylike,  and 
though  she  was  clever  and  capable  as  a  teacher  in 
the  schools,  where  very  little  ability  was  required 
beyond  the  thorough  knowledge  of  the  simplest 
grammar  and  arithmetic,  which  she  and  girls  of 
her  class  naturally  thought  something  wonderful, 
as  they  had  never  had  any  opportunity  of  knowing 
more.  I  gave  this  woman  to  understand  very 
plainly  that  I  considered  neither  she  nor  Father 
Higgins  had  any  right  to  discuss  such  a  subject; 
above  all,  while  poor  Miss  O'Hagan  was  still 
living.  After  all,  it  was  an  affair  in  which 
even  Father  Higgins  had  no  right  to  interfere, 
I  have  no  doubt  that  she  reported  the  matter 
to  Father  Higgins,  with  her  own  comments 
and  in  her  own  way,  and  I  had  another  cause  of 
enmity  laid  up  against  me. 

I  did  not  blame  the  poor  woman  for  wishing  to 
see  her  sister  in  what  she  considered  the  grand  posi- 
tion of  superior,  but  it  was  the  way  in  which  the 
matter  was  discussed  that  displeased  me.  I 
doubted,  too,  if  Father  Higgins  had  talked  in  this 
way,  as  he  certainly  knew  the  rules  of  convent  life, 
though  he  did  not  always  care  to  observe  them. 


154 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


When  this  woman  saw  that  I  was  displeased,  like 
all  persons  of  her  class,  she  thought  I  was  looking 
for  the  office  myself,  and  said,  rudely,  "  You  know 
you  cannot  be  made  superior  yourself,  your  health 
is  -so  delicate  ;  "  I  replied,  quietly,  that  "  I  was 
aware  of  that."  It  would  have  been  useless  to 
have  told  her  that  I  would  not  have  accepted  the 
office,  even  if  my  health  had  been  as  strong  as  her 
sister's,  nor  that  I  had  already  arranged  to  leave 
Kenmare  Convent. 

Many  changes  occurred,  during  a  few  years,  in 
Kenmare.  Father  John,  the  good  old  priest  who 
had  brought  us  there  was  dead  ;  Miss  O'Hagan 
died  soon  after ;  and  almost  her  last  words  to  me 
were,  "I  give  you  not  one,  but  fifty  thousand 
blessings."  Several  of  the  sisters  had  died,  and 
several  had  returned  to  Newry  because  they  were 
dissatisfied  with  many  things  which  they  were 
powerless  to  alter.  One  of  these  things  was  the 
constant  presence  of  the  parish  priest  at  the  con- 
vent ;  he  also  required  the  personal  attendance  of 
the  sisters  when  he  came  in  from  working  on  his 
farm,  on  which  he  occupied  a  good  deal  of  his  time  ; 
and  where  certainly  he  did  a  good  farm  hand's 
work,  and  did  more  hacking  and  hewing  on  him- 
self than  on  the  hedges  and  ditches  which  he  was 
cutting  down  and  digging  out. 

It  would  be  necessary  to  understand  the  peculi- 


PECULIARITIES  OF  CONVENT  LIFE.         \^ 

arities  of  convent  life  to  know  how  the  recreations 
of  the  sisters  could  be  made  a  source  of  misery 
instead  of  pleasure,  by  the  presence  of  a  person 
who  was  not  a  member  of  the  community  ;  though 
an  occasional  visit  from  an  ecclesiastical  superior 
could  be  a  source  of  pleasure  to  them  at  times. 
During  the  day,  the  sisters  have  a  certain  time  to 
converse  freely  together,  and  if  there  is  any  per- 
son present  who  necessarily  absorbs  conversation, 
who  expects  special  deference  to  his  opinions,  it  is 
no  longer  a  free  time. 

There  are  many  people  who  are  quite  as  igno- 
rant of  the  history  of  their  own  times  as  they 
are  of  the  history  of  the  past.  When  they  hear 
something  startling  which  has  not  reached  their 
ears  before,  they  at  once  come  to  the  not  very 
wise  conclusion  that  it  cannot  be  true  because 
they  have  not  heard  it ;  this  is  not  very  wise,  nei- 
ther is  it  wise  to  accept  statements  merely  because 
they  are  new.  I  know  many  persons,  and  quite 
as  many  Roman  Catholics  as  Protestants,  who  will 
be  surprised  by  statements  in  this  book.  But 
very  little  is  known  of  either  the  joys  or  the  sor- 
rows of  convent  life  by  those  outside.  Even  at 
the  risk  of  making  a  digression,  I  may  say  a  few 
words  on  this  subject  here. 

Sisters  are  not  all  unhappy,  nor  are  they  always 
treated  unjustly  by  their  ecclesiastical  superiors. 


1 56 


THE   NUN  OF  K'ENMARE. 


But  there  is  a  great  deal  of  unhappiness  in  con- 
vents which  ought  not  to  be  and  especially  in 
America.  I  was  perplexed  and  shocked,  very  soon 
after  I  came  to  this  country,  at  the  number  of 
sisters  who  had  been  in  convents  who  came  to  me 
asking  to  be  received  into  our  order.  All  these 
sisters  had  been  professed  for  some  years  in  the 
convents  which  they  had  been  put  out  of  with 
little  ceremony,  and  little  care  for  their  future.  I 
heard  and  inquired  into  the  case  of  many  of  these 
sisters,  and  found  that  they  had  often  been  treated 
with  great  injustice.  I  shall  mention  some  of  these 
cases  later.  I  think  I  was  asked  to  help  some 
fifty  or  more  sisters  who  had  been  thus  treated. 

But  I  wish  to  remove  the  impression  which  pre- 
vailed at  one  time  in  England  that  there  would  be 
any  benefit  to  sisters  in  convent  inspection.  At 
one  time  there  was  a  regular  rage  on  the  subject 
in  England.  It  was  supposed  that  there  were  a 
number  of  sisters  detained  against  their  will  in 
convents,  who  would  be  thankful  for  release. 
Statements  of  this  kind  may  be  made  for  sensa- 
tional purposes,  but  they  are  not  true  in  the  sense 
in  which  they  are  believed.  A  sister  is  as  free  to 
leave  a  convent  as  she  was  to  enter  it,  from  one 
point  of  view.  She  is  bound  in  another  and  a 
very  painful  way,  but  no  convent  inspection  could 
help  her.  I  am  saying  this  because  I  firmly 


POWERS   OF  SUPERIORS. 


157 


believe  that  there  will  be  a  reaction  against  the 
Roman  church  in  America  unless  there  is  a  reform 
in  that  church  which  its  past  history  does  not  lead 
us  to  hope  for.  A  church  which  claims  infallibil- 
ity in  all  its  doings  as  well  as  for  all  its  doctrines 
will  neither  listen  to  a  cry  for  needed  reforms  nor 
avert  calamity.  And  it  will  not  even  learn  from 
history.  Already  there  are  signs  of  the  begin- 
ning of  the  end,  if  only  those  who  could  avert  evil 
by  reading  them  aright  would,  read  them. 

The  peace,  happiness,  and  well-being  of  a  con- 
vent depends  first  on  the  local  superior.  I  have 
explained  why  this  protection  failed  me.  Next  it 
depends  on  the  bishop,  whose  sacred  duty  it  is  to 
see  that  every  sister  is  treated  with  impartial  jus- 
tice ;  and  lastly,  the  parish  priest,  or  pastor  as  he 
is  called  in  this  country,  has  almost  unlimited 
power.  He  is  the  local  pope  and  he  knows  it, 
and  takes  care  that  every  one  else  shall  know  it 
also.  Let  it  be  supposed  that  such  a  power  is  con- 
stantly present  in  an  institution,  and  that  all  the 
inmates  have  a  great  deal  to  gain  by  propitiating 
him,  the  consequences  to  any  one  who  is  under  his 
ban  may  be  imagined,  and  in  proof  that  this  is  no 
imaginary  or  infrequent  case,  I  refer  the  reader  to 
the  lives  of  the  saints  and  to  some  notes  on  the 
subject  at  the  end  of  this  volume. 

When   Bishop   McCarthy  came  to   Kenmare  I 


158  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

told  him  all  my  trouble,  and  he  arranged  at  once 
for  me  to  have  another  confessor,  and  seemed  sur- 
prised that  I  should  have  confessed  so  long  to 
Father  Higgins  when  he  was  acting  so  strangely 
towards  me.  But  this  made  little  difference ; 
Father  Higgins  was  the  power  at  hand,  and  the 
bishop  was  the  power  at  a  distance,  and  the  sis- 
ters knew  it.  Beside,  the  sisters  never  liked 
Bishop  McCarthy  ;  I  think  because  he  was  much 
attached  to  me,  and  Jhad  paid  me  the  very  unusual 
compliment  of  quoting  from  one  of  my  books  in 
a  treatise  which  he  had  written  for  theological 
students. 

Even  in  sickness  I  was  made  to  suffer,  but  I 
wish  to  say  as  little  as  possible  on  this  painful 
subject,  and  I  would  not  have  said  anything  had  it 
not  been  necessary  for  me  to  say  something  about 
why  I  left  Kenmare,  in  consequence  of  the  false 
reports  spread  by  the  sisters  and  their  relatives. 

Even  some  of  the  sisters  were  indifferent  to  my 
work  for  the  poor  in  the  famine  year,  though  their 
own  families  benefited  by  it  largely. 

After  the  death  of  Bishop  Moriarty,  I  think 
Father  Higgins  had  great  hope  of  being  elected. 
He  was  passed  over,  however,  but  only  for  a  time  ; 
Dr.  McCarthy,  president  of  Maynooth  College  suc- 
ceeded, but,  to  my  very  great  sorrow  and  grief,  he 
died  after  a  short  time.  He  was  fully  aware,  as  I 


FATHER  HIGGINS  PROMOTED. 


'59 


have  said,  of  my  condition  in  the  Kenmare  con- 
vent, but  he  was  powerless  to  interfere. 

All  the  sisters,  with  two  or  three  noble  excep- 
tions, were  against  me  ;  and  the  new  superior  was 
still  more  so. 

After  the  death  of  Bishop  McCarthy,  Father 
Higgins  obtained  the  long-sought-for  mitre,  and  I 
knew  the  Kenmare  convent  could  no  longer  be 
my  home.  The  sisters  thought  it  would  be  a  dis- 
credit to  them  to  have  it  said  that  I  had  left  Ken- 
mare when  my  name  was  so  closely  connected 
with  it.  Yet  they  made  no  change  in  their  daily 
conduct,  except  to  be  still  more  unkind,  and  to 
show  even  publicly  their  triumph  in  the  election 
of  Bishop  Higgins,  though  they  knew  that  it 
would  be  the  signal  for  my  departure. 

Perhaps  if  I  relate  the  circumstances  connected 
with  this  matter,  they  will  give  a  better  idea  of  the 
state  of  affairs  in  the  Kenmare  convent,  and  of  my 
many  difficulties  and  trials.  I  should  have  said  that 
I  had  been  able  to  do  a  great  deal  for  the  Kenmare 
convent  and  church  out  of  the  profit  from  the  sale 
of  my  publications  and  other  sources.  I  do  not 
remember  everything  I  did,  even  if  I  cared  to  re- 
call it.  I  did  it  for  God,  and  never  doubting  that 
Kenmare  would  be  the  home  of  my  old  age,  as  it 
might  have  been.  For  if  the  sisters  had  been  in- 
deed such  in  fact,  as  well  as  in  name,  I  might  have 


l6o  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

returned  there  even  after  I  had  founded  other  con- 
vents, and  left  them  well  established  and  in  good 
hands.  I  built  a  considerable  part  of  a  new  addi- 
tion to  the  convent,  and  the  sisters  are  at  present 
enjoying  an  income  from  money  left  to  me  by  sev- 
eral friends  who  never  could  have  supposed  that  I 
should  have  had  no  benefit  from  it  in  my  later 
years.  Even  since  I  left  Kenmare,  the  sisters 
managed  to  get  possession  of  some  money  that 
was  left  to  me  for  charitable  purposes,  and  were 
helped  to  do  this  clever  trick  by  a  near  relative  of 
one  of  the  persons  in  Kenmare  whom  I  had  helped 
most  generously  in  the  famine.  The  sisters  have 
besides,  a  good  deal  of  the  money  which  I  earned 
by  my  writings.  Of  course  they  claimed  the 
rights  of  "  canon  law  "  in  this  matter,  for  like  a 
good  many  people  of  their  class  they  are  strong  on 
the  rights  of  the  church,  when  these  rights  are  in 
their  own  favor.  As  for  me  I  was  supposed  to 
have  no  rights.  Still  I  did  not  complain,  and  if  I 
am  left  destitute  in  my  old  age  I  would  rather 
it  should  be  so  than  to  have  been  unjust  to 
others. 

I  was  able  to  do  something  for  the  church  also. 
The  confessionals  were  very  old  and  very  uncom- 
fortable for  the  priests  ;  I  got  new  ones  and  other 
costly  and  useful  things.  I  had  played  the  organ 
in  the  church  for  a  great  number  of  years.  It  was 


THE    CHURCH  ARRANGEMENTS.  T6l 

a  splendid  instrument,  with  three  benches  of  keys, 
feet  and  side  pedals,  and,  as  the  sisters  who  came 
to  us  first,  scarcely  knew  anything  of  music,  I  had 
to  take  the  whole  burden  and  to  teach  them  also. 
This  organ  was  placed  in  a  very  inconvenient  posi- 
tion for  the  sisters,  as  it  was  at  the  end  of  the 
church.  The  sisters  had  to  go  out  through  the 
public  yard  to  get  to  it,  no  matter  how  severe 
the  weather  might  be,  or  else  they  had  to  pass  up 
the  long  aisle  of  the  church  before  all  the  people. 
It  was  a  choice  of  discomforts.  I  determined  that 
the  sisters  who  took  up  the  work  when  I  was  no 
longer  able  to  do  it  should  not  surfer  this  incon- 
venience any  more.  I  forget  now  what  moving 
the  organ  cost  ;  I  know  it  was  a  considerable  sum 
of  money,  and,  besides  this,  a  new  gallery  had  to 
be  built  for  it.  All  this  was  done,  and  now  the 
sisters  could  go  by  a  covered  way  from  the  con- 
vent to  the  church. 

At  the  time  of  which  I  speak,  Father  Higgins 
had  been  made  Dean  of  Tralee  ;  Father  O' Sulli- 
van, always  my  fast  friend,  was  parish  priest  of 
Kenmare,  and  archdeacon,  and  we  expected  every 
day  to  hear  that  either  one  or  the  other  had  been 
appointed  Bishop  of  Kerry.  As  I  have  said,  Arch- 
deacon O'Sullivan  had  nearly  as  many  votes  as 
Father  Higgins.  He  was  far  more  popular  with 
the  priests  and  the  people,  but  not  with  the  Eng- 


Z62  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

lish  government  or  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin, 
who  had  an  important  voice  in  the  matter. 

The  sisters  knew  well  what  I  should  feel  when 
the  announcement  of  Bishop  Higgins's  promotion 
should  be  made.  One  Sunday  they  heard  a  vague 
report  that  he  had  been  appointed,  and  the  sis- 
ters, with  a  singular  want  of  respectful  feeling 
towards  Archdeacon  O'Sullivan,  as  well  as  to  my- 
self, had  the  Te  Deum  sung  after  mass,  and  to 
make  their  ill-feeling  more  flagrant,  it  happened 
that  Archdeacon  O'Sullivan  was  at  mass.  The 
only  excuse  for  them  was  their  want  of  education 
or  refinement,  which  made  them  incapable  of 
understanding  the  feelings  of  others.  One  of  these 
sisters  was  English,  but  of  a  class  which  does  not 
possess  the  ordinary  refinement  of  educated  peo- 
ple, still,  she  had  been  brought  up  in  a  convent, 
and  should  have  been  taught  there,  at  least,  the 
ordinary  duty  of  Christian  charity.  This  sister 
was  very  ignorant  and  rude  in  her  ways,  but  she 
had  a  strong  voice,  which  was  very  useful  in  the 
large  church,  and  the  most  extraordinary  physical 
strength  I  ever  met  in  any  woman. 

The  triumph  of  the  sisters  after  this  was  un- 
bounded. It  certainly  was  a  poor  specimen  of  the 
value  of  Father  Higgins's  teaching  when  it  made 
them  forget  common  courtesy  to  an  excellent 
priest  like  Archdeacon  O'Sullivan,  to  say  nothing 


ABUSIVE    TREATMENT. 


163 


of  myself.  The  next  day  when  I  had  to  go  to  the 
general  room,  where  th'e  sisters  met  for  recreation, 
for  a  few  moments  on  some  business,  I  was  at- 
tacked by  this  sister  in  the  most  violent  way,  and 
without  any  cause  whatever.  In  fact  the  sisters 
nearly  all  lost  their  heads,  and  sisters  will  some- 
times be  as  silly  as  children.  I  told  her  quietly 
that  I  would  not  enter  into  any  discussions  with 
her,  or  any  of  the  sisters  ;  that  I  only  wanted 
peace  and  quiet,  but  she  again  began  to  pour  out 
a  torrent  of  angry  and  ignorant  abuse,  in  which  she 
was  upheld  by  several  other  sisters  who  happened 
to  be  present.  I  had  been  treated  this  way  several 
times  before,  but  I  was  determined  this  would  be 
the  last  time  I  would  subject  myself  to  it.  I  there- 
fore said,  as  quietly  as  I  could,  "  Sister  M 

C you  have  treated  me  often  in  this  way  be- 
fore, and  I  am  sorry  to  say  you  have  made  me  very 
angry.  I  will  not  submit  to  it  any  more.  If  your 
affection  for  Father  Higgins  obliges  you  to  treat  a 
sister  in  this  way,  I  am  sorry  for  you  and  for  him  ; 
but  if  you  continue  speaking  to  me  so  rudely,  I 
will  leave  this  room,  but  remember,  I  will  never 
enter  it  again."  She  still  continued,  so  I  quietly 
rose  from  my  seat  and  left  the  room,  and  I  kept 
my  word,  for  I  never  went  into  it  again,  and  left 
the  convent  as  soon  as  possible  after. 

I  am  sure  I  had  put  up  with  so  much  that  the 


164 


THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


sisters  thought  it  mattered  little  what  they  said  or 
did  as  far  as  I  was  considered,  and,  as  they  had 
Father  Higgins's  example  before  their  eyes,  per- 
haps they  were  not  so  much  to  blame. 

I  now  determined  to  leave  Kenmare  as  soon  as 
possible.  I  had  made  arrangements  with  Arch- 
deacon Cavanagh  to  see  what  could  be  done  about 
a  convent  at  Knock,  and  I  had  decided  to  go  back 
to  Newry  if  this  arrangement  could  not  be  con- 
cluded in  a  satisfactory  manner.  Indeed,  the 
superior  there  had  written  many  times  very 
strongly  to  the  sisters  in  Kenmare  concerning 
their  treatment  of  me,  as  she  had  heard  a  good 
deal  about  it  from  others  than  myself. 

Nothing  could  have  been  simpler,  or  more  in 
accordance  with  the  regulations  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  than  the  arrangements  which  I 
had  made.  Before  I  left  Kenmare,  I  got  all  the 
necessary  permissions,  and  yet  later  on  it  was 
made  to  appear  by  Bishop  Higgins,  who  gave  the 
permissions,  as  if  they  had  not  been  given,  the 
facts  and  the  letters  to  the  contrary,  notwith- 
standing. 

Bishop  Higgins  has  indeed  been  very  unfortu- 
nate in  his  dealing  with  his  people,  his  priests,  and 
his  sisters.  The  reports  in  the  public  press  show 
that  those  who  are  under  his  pastoral  charge  are  a 
most  disaffected  and  disloyal  people.  In  Ireland, 


FATHER  HIGGINS'S  METHODS.  ifi$ 

his  diocese  Kerry,  has  obtained  most  unfavorable 
notoriety  for  crime,  murder,  moonlighting,  boycot- 
ting. This  state  of  things  is  a  most  unhappy 
contrast  to  the  peace  and  quiet  which  reigns 
in  the  next  diocese,  where  Archbishop  Croke 
rules. 

As  for  his  priests,  I  have  personal  knowledge 
that  they  are  by  no  means  well  affected  to  his 
arbitrary  rule.  While  I  was  in  Kenmare,  one  of 
his  curates  who  lived  in  his  house,  was  sent  to 
"  Coventry "  for  six  months,  as  Bishop  Higgins, 
who  was  then  parish  priest,  never  opened  his  lips 
to  speak  to  him  during  all  that  time.  They  met 
at  dinner,  at  supper,  at  the  altar,  and  at  the  sick 
bed,  and  still  this  somewhat  peculiar  ecclesiastic 
never  spoke  to  him  ;  though  on  these  occasions 
he  conversed  quite  freely  with  his  other  curate, 
who  was  a  personal  favorite. 

I  myself  was  subjected  to  just  such  treatment 
from  him  for  nearly  a  year  before  I  left  Kenmare. 
Father  Higgins  never  opened  his  lips  to  me,  and 
what  made  it  far  worse  was,  that  the  majority  of 
the  sisters  were  weak  minded  enough  to  follow  his 
example,  either  from  a  desire  to  please  him  or 
from  their  own  free  will.  Ill  and  suffering  as  I 
was,  the  trial  was  a  terrible  one,  and  I  often 
wonder  that  my  mind  did  not  give  way  under  it. 
In  consequence  of  my  ill  health,  I  was  seldom 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


able  to  leave  my  room  ;  but  whenever  I  did  leave 
it  and  joined  the  sisters  at  the  time  of  recreation, 
Father  Higgins  was  generally  there,  as  he  spent 
most  of  his  time  at  the  convent.  If  I  attempted 
to  join  in  the  general  conversation,  his  example 
was  all  powerful,  so  that  at  last,  I  remained  in  my 
room  entirely. 

In  justice  to  myself,  I  must  add  that  I  asked 
Bishop  Higgins,  who  was  then  the  parish  priest 
and  confessor,  what  was  the  cause  of  this  extraor- 
dinary boycotting,  but  he  always  refused  to  tell 
me.  I  told  him  twice  that  if  I  had  done  anything 
to  offend  him  or  displease  him,  if  he  would  only 
tell  me  what  it  was,  I  would  make  an  apology  or 
any  reparation  in  my  power,  but  it  was  the  usual 
story  ;  I  was  condemned  unheard.  Since  then, 
and  indeed  quite  lately,  I  met  a  priest  who  knew 
all  the  circumstances  well,  and  he  told  me  that 
stories  carried  by  the  sisters  to  the  bishop  were 
the  cause  of  all  the  trouble.  Again,  I  must  say, 
why  did  not  he  take  the  trouble  to  inquire  from 
myself  whether  all  their  stories  were  true  or 
false  ?  Although  Bishop  Higgins's  family  were 
persons  of  very  humble  origin,  he  was  not  without 
some  cultivated  tastes,  and  he  took  great  interest, 
at  first,  in  my  literary  work,  so  that  the  change 
was  all  the  more  remarkable. 

I  was  made  to  suffer  also  from   unkindness  on 


A   MONEY  LOSS.  ifiy 

many  occasions  when  I  was  seriously  ill.  Once 
when  I  was  trying  to  rest  after  suffering  very 
painful  medical  treatment,  a  sister  insisted  on 
moving  some  furniture  in  the  room  underneath 
mine,  so  that  I  was  greatly  disturbed,  although 
several  sisters  begged  of  her  not  to  do  so;  The 
same  sister,  I  may  say,  was  the  final  cause  of  my 
leaving  Ken  mare. 

I  am  very  reluctant  to  relate  these  circum- 
stances. I  know  how  trifling  they  may  seem  when 
reading  about  them,  but  they  were  not  trifling 
when  suffered,  and  I  believe  I  may  save  others 
from  suffering  by  recalling  such  cases.  We  can- 
not expect  perfection  at  this  side  of  Paradise. 
Every  institution,  no  matter  how  good  may  be  its 
object  and  aim,  is  human,  and  those  who  carry  out 
its  teachings  are  human  also. 

I  should  say  here  that  on  the  death  of  Father 
John,  whom  I  have  previously  mentioned,  both  the 
principal  and  interest  of  a  very  large  sum  of  money 
was  lost,  which  had  been  invested  by  him  for  the 
benefit  of  the  poor.  How  necessary  it  was  for 
them  can  only  be  known  by  those  who  have  wit- 
nessed their  poverty  as  I  did,  and  it  will  be  a 
matter  of  surprise  to  numbers  to  know  that  many 
of  the  sisters  were  perfectly  indifferent  on  the  sub- 
ject. 

I   managed  to  collect  about   $2500  to  replace 


THE   NUN-  OF  KENMARE. 

this  money,  and  hoped  by  degrees  to  replace  it  all, 
but  I  had  little  sympathy  from  the  sisters  in  my 
efforts,  though  it  was  of  very  much  importance  to 
the  poor  of  that  poor  district,  because  the  interest 
of  the  money  was  used  to  feed  and  clothe  the  des- 
titute children  attending  the  convent  school.  On 
one  occasion  one  of  the  sisters  said  to  me,  "  Oh, 
it  matters  very  little  about  the  poor ;  they  can 
always  get  on,  somehow  ;  but  I  am  very  sorry  for 

Lady  F ,"  mentioning  the  name  of   the  wife 

of  a  millionaire  landlord  who  had  suffered  some 

reduction  of  rent. 

• 

I  was  not  the  only  sister  who  fell  under  Father 
Higgins's  displeasure  or  dislike  ;  I  really  do  not 
know  which  to  term  it.  The  sisters  who  had 
these  troubles  with  Bishop  Higgins  had  influential 
and  wealthy  friends  and  relatives,  which  fact  was 
a  protection  to  them,  that  I  sorely  needed.  In 
their  case,  of  course,  it  was  not  safe  to  work  in  an 
arbitrary  or  capricious  manner.  When  they  de- 
termined to  return  to  the  convent  from  which  we 
all  came,  there  were  few  difficulties  made,  and  they 
were  allowed  to  take  with  them,  as  they  had  a  per- 
tect  right  to  do,  the  money  which  they  had 
brought  with  them  to  Kenmare. 

One  of  these  sisters  returned  to  Newry,  soon 
after  we  came  to  Kenmare ;  and  another  sister  left 
Kenmare  about  a  year  before  I  did,  and  returned 


FURTHER    TROUBLES. 


169 


to  Newry  also  ;  she  was  subject  to  the  same 
annoyance  at  recreation  as  I  was,  but  as  she  was 
young  and  in  vigorous  health,  she  was  better  able 
to  bear  it.  There  is  no  doubt  if  I  had  had  any 
influential  Catholic  friends  and  relatives,  or  if  the 
priests  had  thought  there  was  any  danger  of  my 
appealing  to  my  Protestant  relatives,  I  should 
have  been  treated  very  differently. 

I  have  said  that  Bishop  Higgins  has  been  unfor- 
tunate in  his  dealings  with  his  people,  his  priests, 
and  his  sisters.  As  regards  the  people,  the  evi- 
dence is  before  the  public  in  the  press.  As 
regards  the  priests,  there  are  a  good  many  who 
will  read  this  and  know  what  I  say  is  true.  As 
regards  the  sisters,  a  very  sad  case  has  just  been 
published  in  the  Dublin  papers. 

A  sister  in  the  convent  of  Castletown  had  fre- 
quently appealed  to  Bishop  Higgins  to  be  re- 
moved to  another  convent  of  her  order,  as  she 
considered  she  was  being  treated  harshly  and 
unjustly  by  her  superiors,  but  the  bishop  re- 
fused her  reasonable  request.  At  last  the  sis- 
ter could  no  longer  bear  her  agony  of  mind,  and, 
such  things  are  not  altogether  impossible  in  con- 
vents, human  nature  gave  way  ;  she  fled  from  the 
house  one  day,  and  it  would  seem  as  if  she  knew 
not  where  she  was  going,  but  a  great  public 
scandal  was  the  result.  She  was  by  some  means 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


induced  to  return,  and  I  do  not  know  whether  she 
remains  there  still  or  not.  But  those  who  know 
anything  of  sisters  will  know  what  she  must  have 
suffered  before  she  went  to  such  extremes. 

Some  years  ago,  the  Saurin  case  was  brought  be- 
fore the  public,  with  all  the  petty  and  miserable 
details  of  similar  circumstances.  Wherever  there 
is  a  sensible  and  intellectual  superior,  and  a 
bishop  who  is  not  incapable  of  doing  justice  to  all, 
there  may  be  no  happier  life  than  the  life  of  sis- 
ters ;  but  where  these  most  important  officials  are 
incapable,  or  given  to  petty  jealousy,  few  places 
can  be  more  intolerable  to  those  who  desire  peace. 

It  may  be  well  that  I  should  say  something  of 
the  famous  Saurin  case  here.  Some  fifteen  years 
since,  there  was  great  excitement  in  England 
about  what  was  called  the  "  Saurin  case."  Miss 
Saurin  was  a  young  lady  of  very  good  family  and 
a  Roman  Catholic.  She  entered  a  convent  of  the 
Sisters  of  Mercy,  I  think,  in  Dublin,  and  went 
from  there  to  found  a  convent  at  a  place  called 
Hull,  in  England.  Her  friends  were  very  devout 
Roman  Catholics,  and  very  well  known  in  Roman 
Catholic  circles.  Her  brother,  Father  Saurin, 
was  a  Jesuit,  and  got  into  considerable  trouble 
by  taking  his  sister's  part  in  the  quarrel.  An 
uncle  of  this  lady's  was  parish  priest  in  Drog- 
heda,  Ireland,  and  he  also  got  into  trouble  with 


THE  SAURIN  CASE. 


I/I 


the  authorities,  I  forget  on  what  subject.  I  know, 
however,  he  went  to  Rome,  like  myself,  won  his 
case  and  came  back  to  Ireland,  only  to  find,  as 
usual,  that  the  Pope's  writ  does  not  run  unless  the 
bishop  concerned  is  willing  it  should,  and  in  the 
end,  to  wish  either,  that  he  had  never  been  born, 
or  that  he  had  never  gone  to  Rome,  as  the  in- 
justice from  which  he  was  made  to  surfer  before  he 
appealed  to  Rome,  was  a  trifle  to  what  he  had  to  en- 
dure after  he  came  back.  As  to  the  respect  shown 
by  some  bishops  to  the  Pope's  authority,  when  it 
does  not  suit  their  views,  I  give  the  following  story 
as  it  was  told  me.  A  certain  priest  in  the  New 
York  diocese  was  made  a  monseigneur  by  the  Holy 
Father,  and  rejoiced  thereat  greatly,  as  this  admits 
of  dressing  very  much  like  a  bishop,  which,  as  far  as 
I  can  understand,  is  about  all  the  advantage  gained 
thereby ;  but  according  to  ecclesiastical  etiquette  it 
was  necessary  for  this  compliment  to  pass  through 
the  hands  of  the  bishop  of  the  diocese,  and  the 
bishop  of  the  diocese,  not  admiring  the  independent 
ways  of  the  priest  in  question,  refused  to  give  it. 

I  cannot  now  remember  the  exact  details  of 
Miss  Saurin's  case,  except  that  it  was  not  very 
creditable  to  any  of  those  concerned  in  it.  It  was 
tried  for  days  in  the  public  law  courts  in  London, 
and  as  it  proved  that  there  was  nothing  worse 
than  an  amount  of  continual  petty  meanness  in 


1^2  THE  ^UN  OF  KENMARE. 

the  life  of  the  sisters,  of  which  any  decent  family 
would  have  been  ashamed,  the  Catholic  party 
were  triumphant,  as  they  said  no  serious  scandal 
came  out.  At  worst  it  was  a  history  of  petty 
jealousy  and  very  ridiculous  assumptions  of  au- 
thority on  the  part  of  the  superior,  and  the  con- 
duct of  the  sisters  showed,  just  as  might  be 
expected,  that  they  took  the  side  of  authority 
without  the  slightest  consideration  as  to  whether 
it  was  right  or  wrong,  and  inflicted  all  kinds  of 
petty  slights  and  stings  on  the  unfortunate  sister. 
It  is  human  nature  after  all  to  hunt  down  one  who 
is  down,  above  all,  when  such  a  course  will  please 
a  powerful  party  ;  and  such  wrong  is  done  some- 
times, let  us  hope,  without  a  full  realization  of  its 
injustice. 

A  case  within  my  own  knowledge  has  hap- 
pened recently  in  the  New  York  diocese.  About 
two  years  since,  a  gentleman  came  to  me  in  great 
trouble  and  told  me  that  his  sister  who  had  been 
professed,  for,  I  think,  about  seven  years  pre- 
viously, in  the  New  York  diocese  had  been  sent 
to  Blackwell's  Island  as  a  lunatic.  I  was  beyond 
measure  shocked,  and  could  scarcely  think  that 
such  things  could  happen  in  this  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, though  I  have  had  a  good  deal  of  experience 
of  what  can  be  done  when  injustice  is  determined 
upon. 


A   NEW   YORK  CASE. 


173 


He  said  his  sister  was  not  insane,  but  that  she 
had  expressed  some  indignation  at  what  she 
thought  wrong  in  the  convent.  I  cannot  answer 
for  her  state  of  mind  then,  but  I  know  she  was  not 
insane  later,  neither  was  she  when  she  came  to 
me ;  and  she  now  holds  a  respectable  position  in  a 
store  in  New  York,  with  credit  to  herself  and  her 
friends. 

According  to  her  statement  to  me,  she  was  car- 
ried off  to  Bellevue  Hospital  suddenly,  and  without 
warning  from  the  sisters,  and  she  assured  me  that 
neither  the  priest  nor  doctor  were  brought  to  see 
her  before  this  strange  proceeding.  She  told  me, 
and  her  brother  confirmed  her  statement,  that  he 
was  not  sent  for,  nor  did  he  know  anything  of 
what  had  happened,  until  she  reached  Bellevue 
Hospital,  whence  she  contrived  in  some  way  to  get 
a  message  to  him. 

Her  history  of  the  case  is  a  most  pathetic  one. 
She  told  me  how  she  prayed  to  God  in  her  agony 
to  save  her  from  her  terrible  fate.  Of  course  the 
excited  state  she  was  in,  induced  by  this  injustice, 
only  confirmed  the  idea  of  her  insanity.  I  shall 
not  easily  forget  her  brother's  indignation.  I  have 
a  copy  of  a  letter  which  she  gave  me  after  she  had 
despatched  the  original  to  the  superioress  of  the 
convent  whence  she  had  been  sent  to  Bellevue 
Hospital.  It  was  written  in  somewhat  strong  and 


174 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


plain  language.  I  asked  her  brother  why  he  did 
not  make  the  case  public,  and  so  prevent  worse  or 
similar  evils.  He  told  me  it  was  his  first  impulse 
to  do  so,  but  that  on  reflection,  he  knew  that  he 
dared  not,  as  his  business  would  be  ruined  if  he 
said  one  word. 

As  there  has  been  so  much  confusion  and  per- 
plexity made  in  a  very  simple  case  by  Bishop 
Higgins's  ignorance  of  canon  law,  which  led  him  to 
interfere  in  an  affair  in  which  he  had  no  concern, 
the  whole  case  must  look  so  perplexing  to  the 
general  reader  that  I  think  it  may  be  as  well  to 
give  a  short,  clear  statement  of  my  position  when 
I  left  Kenmare,  as  far  as  the  canon  law  of  the 
Roman  church  is  concerned.  No  theologian  can 
dispute  the  truth  of  my  statement.  The  facts 
are  also  past  dispute,  as  documentary  proof  of 
them  is  given  in  the  next  chapter. 

When  I  left  Kenmare  my  position  was  this. 
At  my  own  request  and  with  all  the  necessary 
forms  required  by  the  Roman  church,  I  had  been 
transferred  to  the  diocese  of  Dromore,  as  the 
diocese  is  called,  in  which  the  town  of  Newry  is 
situated.  From  the  hour  in  which  I  left  Kenmare 
Convent,  the  Bishop  of  Kerry,  Bishop  Higgins, 
had  no  more  right  to  interfere  with  me  or  my 
affairs,  no  matter  what  I  did,  than  he  had  to  inter- 
fere with  a  sister  in  New  York.  Further,  the 


VIOLATIONS  OF  CANON  LAW. 


175 


Kenmare  sisters  had  no  right  to  interfere  with  my 
actions,  or  to  criticise  them,  or  to  employ  persons 
to  watch  me,  or  to  send  despatches  to  find  out 
where  I  was,  or  what  I  was  doing.  The  only 
bishop  to  whom  I  was  accountable  was  the  Bishop 
of  Dromore,  of  whom  I  have  spoken  before,  and  he 
was  perfectly  satisfied,  as  his  letters  show. 

All  this  trouble  arose  from  Bishop  Higgins's 
ignorance  of  canon  law,  at  least  this  is  the  most 
charitable  view  to  take  of  it,  as  ignorance  alone 
can  save  him  from  the  charge  of  worse  motives. 
For  the  conduct  of  the  Kenmare  sisters  there  is 
no  excuse.  Before  I  left  Kenmare,  I  obtained 
permission  to  visit  Knock,  and  in  fact  I  went 
direct  to  Knock  from  Kenmare,  as  the  reader  has 
seen.  My  object  in  going  there  was  also  arranged 
with  all  canonical  permission  ;  I  could  not  be  sure 
whether  I  could  found  the  proposed  convent  there 
or  not,  for  many  reasons,  until  I  saw  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Tuam  and  Father  Cavanagh.  When 
leaving  Kenmare  I  arranged  with  Miss  Lowry, 
the  superioress  of  the  Kenmare  Convent,  who 
had  succeeded  Miss  O'Hagan,  to  keep  the  small 
sum  of  money  which  the  sisters  let  me  have 
until  this  matter  was  decided,  which  she  agreed 
to  do ;  and,  indeed  she  kept  it  so  well,  that  it 
was  not  without  great  difficulty  I  got  it  from 
her  at  last.  So  there  was  no  mistake  or  mis- 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

understanding  in  the  whole  proceeding,  as  far 
I  was  concerned,  and  the  rules  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  church  were  strictly  observed  by  me.  If 
I  decided  to  remain  in  Knock  it  was  the  business 
of  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam  to  make  the  necessary 
arrangements  with  the  Bishop  of  Dromore,  and  for 
me  to  write  explaining  my  wishes,  which  I  did. 
If  I  went  to  Cork  or  Dublin  or  to  America,  Bishop 
Higgins  had  no  right  to  say  one  word.  Nor  do  I 
think  he  would  have  made  all  the  serious  mistakes 
he  did  if  he  had  not  let  his  mind  be  confused  by 
the  busy  tongues  of  sisters,  who  had  their  own 
reasons  for  what  they  did  and  for  "  hunting  me 
down."  I  now  proceed  to  give  the  facts  of  the 
case,  which  I  hope  will  be  better  understood  after 
this  explanation. 


CHAPTER   X. 

LEAVING   KENMARE. 

I  Leave  Kenmare  —  Rev.  M.  Neligan  Accompanies  me  on  my  Way  to 
Knock  —  Accused  of  Going  Without  Leave  —  The  Presentation  Sis- 
ters at  Killarney  —  Presentation  Convent,  Portarlington  —  Clare- 
morris —  Rev.  Canon  Bourke — My  Journey  Continued — Wretched 
Conveyances  —  I  am  Seriously  111. 

I  LEFT  Kenmare  on  the  sixteenth  of  November, 
1881, — a  day  long  to  be  remembered  by  me  for 
many  reasons.  I  was  accompanied  by  my  con- 
fessor, the  Rev.  Maurice  Neligan,  C.  C.,  and  by 
my  faithful  and  devoted  friend  and  secretary,  Miss 
Downing. 

After  the  events  related  in  the  last  chapter,  I 
did  not  wish  to  see  any  of  the  sisters,  except  the 
reverend  mother  and  one  dear  sister,  whom  I 
shall  always  remember  with  tender  affection. 
As  for  the  other  sisters,  I  knew  their  feelings  too 
well  from  years  of  unkindness  and  injustice,  to 
suppose  they  would  care  to  see  me  before  I  left 
Kenmare.  Some  of  them  I  knew  were  keenly 
alive  to  the  pecuniary  loss  my  leaving  would  cause 
them,  but  what  I  have  already  said  will  show  even 
tJiat  was  a  minor  consideration  to  their  miserable 
desire  to  gain  favor  with  a  certain  ecclesiastic. 


1 78 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


After  all,  they  had  excuses.  The  power  of  an 
ecclesiastic  is  very  great,  and  human  nature  is  very 
strong  and  very  self-deceptive.  I  was  no  one 
in  comparison  with  a  superior  whose  smiles  or 
favor  could  at  once  raise  or  lower  each  sister  in 
the  estimation  of  the  others.  It  would  be  impos- 
sible to  describe  in  words  such  a  subtle  influence. 
I  can  only  say  that  it  existed. 

And  I  have  found  since  I  left  Kenmare  that  such 
cases  are  not  altogether  uncommon.  At  a  convent 
where  I  stopped,  on  my  way  to  Knock,  I  heard 
from  the  reverend  mother  an  account  which  re- 
sembled my  own  in  many  respects.  There  was 
only  this  difference,  and  what  a  difference  it  was  ! 
The  reverend  mother  told  me  that  a  priest,  who 
was  necessarily  very  much  mixed  up  in  their 
affairs,  had  taken  an  unaccountable  dislike  to  one 
of  the  sisters.  He  left  no  means  unused  to 
make  her  feel  it,  and  as  she  was  obliged  to  hold  a 
prominent  position  in  the  schools,  it  was  most 
painful  to  her.  But  she  had  a  help  and  a  comfort 
altogether  denied  to  me.  The  reverend  mother 
was  a  woman  of  noble  character  and  true  piety. 
As  she  said  to  me  herself,  her  first  duty  was  to  the 
sisters,  and  she  would  rather  have  seen  the  con- 
vent broken  up,  and  have  begged  her  bread  from 
door  to  door,  than  to  allow  any  injustice  to  be 
shown  to  one  whom  she  was  bound  to  protect. 


LEAVING  KENMARE. 


179 


I  could  not  but  feel  how  different  my  lot  had 
been  ;  but  the  ways  of  Providence  are  mysterious, 
and  the  evil  that  is  done  us  may  but  be  the  cause 
of  a  good  which  otherwise  would  not  have  existed. 

The  sisters  were  well  aware  that  the  people  of 
Kenmare  would  be  indignant  if  they  knew  that  I 
was  leaving,  and  that  probably  some  measures  would 
have  been  used  to  detain  me  by  force.  They  were 
determined,  at  all  events,  to  prevent  any  expres- 
sion of  interest  or  sympathy  with  me,  and  as  I  was 
on  this  point  quite  of  their  opinion,  and  desired 
to  leave  quietly,  matters  were  easily  arranged. 

I  passed  out  silently  and  unseen  through  the 
church  ;  but  before  I  left  that  place  where  I  had 
offered  so  many  tears  and  prayers,  and  for  which  I 
had  done  my  share  of  labor,  I  knelt  at  the  tomb  of 
the  dear  Father  John  for  a  few  minutes.  I  can- 
not now  remember  what  prayers  I  prayed,  or  what 
words  I  said,  but  his  dear  memory  was  ever  with 
me,  and  I  felt  if  he  could  have  known  my  grief,  he 
would  have  been  my  dearest  helper  and  comforter. 
The  sisters  took  care  to  have  a  close  carriage 
waiting  for  me  at  the  outside  door,  in  which  my 
confessor,  Rev.  M.  Neligan,  and  my  secretary 
had  already  taken  their  places.  And  yet  these 
same  sisters  who  saw  me  leave  thus,  contrived  to 
have  a  report  circulated  that  I  had  left  Kenmare 
as  an  "  escaped  nun  "  without  "  the  knowledge  or 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

leave  of  any  superior."  By  my  own  wish  I  left 
as  early  as  I  could  manage  to  rise  from  my  sick 
bed.  It  was  a  long  and  weary  drive  to  Killarney, 
and  I  could  not  but  think  of  the  day,  so  many 
years  before,  when  I  had  passed  over  the  same 
mountains  under  such  different  circumstances.  I 
knew  at  that  time  but  little  of  the  true  state  of 
the  Irish  poor.  I  gave  up  my  life  to  work  for 
the  Irish  people  because  they  were  poor,  and  be- 
cause I  pitied  them  with  all  the  warm  enthusiasm 
of  my  nature.  I  then  believed  also  that  their 
poverty  was  due  principally  to  their  fidelity  to  their 
faith.  The  experience  of  years  of  careful  inquiry 
and  anxious  thought  had  proved  to  me  that  the 
Irish  were  poorer  than  I  had  ever  imagined  them 
to  be,  but  that  there  were  worse  kinds  of  poverty  ; 
and  I  learned  by  these  years  of  experience,  also, 
that  their  poverty  was  not  entirely  caused  by  their 
adherence  to  their  faith. 

The  letters  which  I  received  after  I  left  Ken- 
mare  from  the  Rev.  M.  Neligan,  which  will  be 
found  later  in  this  volume,  will  show  that  I  was 
not  without  comfort  and  sympathy  in  his  compan- 
ionship. I  could  not  have  had  a  kinder  or  more 
considerate  friend  on  that  weary  journey.  It  is 
very  painful  to  me  to  revert  to  subjects  which 
treat  on  the  ingratitude  and  injustice  of  those 
with  whom  I  spent  the  greater  part  of  my  life,  and 


STA  Y  AT  KILLARNE Y.  1 8 1 

for  whose  benefit  all  the  labors  of  my  best  years 
were  expended,  and  who  are  now  living  on  what  I 
earned  at  so  much  cost,  but  the  truth  must  be 
told. 

We  arrived  in  Killarney  late  in  the  afternoon, 
and  were  very  kindly  received  by  the  Presentation 
Sisters  there,  who  could  also  prove,  if  it  were 
necessary,  how  I  travelled.  As  they  were  special 
favorites  with  Bishop  Higgins,  I  should  have  had 
some  doubts  of  my  reception,  not  from  any  idea 
that  the  sisters  would  be  unwilling  to  receive  me, 
but  from  knowing  too  well  how  fear  and  inclina- 
tion clash  on  such  occasions.  The  Rev.  M.  Neli- 
gan,  however,  had  a  niece  in  the  convent,  a  pro- 
fessed sister,  and  that  I  suppose,  had  its  influence 
on  the  other  side. 

On  the  next  day,  I  went  on  another  stage  of  my 
painful  journey.  I  had  to  lie  down  all  the  time  in 
the  railway  carriage,  and  was  almost  lifted  in  and 
out  at  each  station.  Our  stay  this  night  was  at 
another  Presentation  Convent  in  Portarlington, 
Queens  County.  Here  also,  I  met  with  a  very 
kind  reception,  and  in  both  convents  the  dear 
sisters  brought  me  a  pile  of  my  own  books,  and 
especially  showed  me  one,  "  The  Spouse  of  Christ," 
which  they  said  was  read  daily  by  the  sisters. 

My  next  journey  was  to  Claremorris,  where  I 
had  to  rest  the  last  night  before  going  to  Knock. 


j82  THE  NUN  OF  K'ENMARE. 

The  little  village  of  Claremorris  is  about  five  miles 
from  Knock,  and  I  met  with  a  most  affectionate 
reception  there.  The  convent,  which  was  one  of 
the  Sisters  of  Mercy's,  is  beautifully  situated  and 
surrounded  by  very  extensive  grounds.  I  found 
all  the  sisters  warm  believers  in  the  apparition  at 
Knock.  The  parish  priest  was  well  known  through 
the  Catholic  Church  as  a  very  learned  and  distin- 
guished Celtic  scholar,  and  the  writer  of  many 
historical  works.  He  was  the  intimate  and  de- 
voted friend  of  the  late  Archbishop  of  Tuam,  who 
was  immortalized  by  O'Connell  as  "The  Lion  of 
the  Tribe  of  Judah." 

The  very  Rev.  Canon  Bourke  had  been  a  cor- 
respondent of  mine  for  many  years,  and  I  looked 
forward  to  meeting  him  with  no  ordinary  pleasure. 
All  such  intentions,  however,  were  subservient  to 
the  one  great  desire  of  visiting  the  shrine  of 
Knock. 

During  the  year  1879,  my  confessor  had  vis- 
ited Knock  and  said  Mass  there,  for  the  inten- 
tions of  those  who  had  helped  the  fund  with  which 
I  had  been  charged,  for  the  famine-stricken  Irish. 
I  may  say  here  that  I  have  considered  such  mat- 
ters a  very  sacred  obligation,  and  I  have  never,  I 
think,  broken  even  the  least  promise  of  a  spiritual 
character,  or,  indeed,  of  any  kind,  made  to  others. 
Circumstances  over  which  I  have  had  no  control 


CLAREMORRIS  CONVENT.  ^3 

have,  indeed,  happened  which  have  given  me  griev- 
ous pain,  chiefly  because  they  prevented  me  from 
carrying  out  what  I  had  promised  ;  but,  I  believe 
that,  as  God  will  not  hold  us  accountable  for  what 
we  are  prevented,  by  moral  or  physical  force,  from 
doing,  so  those  who  have  done  me  the  honor  to 
trust  me  with  their  money  for  good  and  holy  ends, 
will  not  blame  me  because  these  ends  are  not 
carried  out,  through  no  fault  of  mine.  Rather  do 
I  hope  for  their  prayers  and  sympathy ;  all  that  I 
can  blame  myself  for  is,  that  I  have  so  long  with- 
held the  facts  of  the  case  ;  but  I  think  my  motives 
for  doing  this  will  be  understood  and  respected 
now  that  they  are  fully  explained. 

I  was  known  in  this  convent  also,  not  only  by 
my  writings,  which  they  possessed,  but  by  the 
help  which  I  had  been  enabled  to  send  them  in 
the  famine  year,  so  lately  passed  away ;  if  indeed, 
famine  can  ever  be  said  to  pass  from  Ireland. 
The  sisters,  too,  took  a  loving  pleasure  in  recalling 
to  me  how  my  Protestant  relative  had  been  the 
friend  and  protector  of  the  foundress  of  their 
order  many  years  ago. 

The  Rev.  M.  Neligan  found  kind  hospitality 
with  Canon  Bourke  for  the  night,  and  as  I  have 
said,  he  knew  the  way  to  Knock,  having  visited 
there  before  at  my  request  and  expense,  in  order 
to  fulfil  my  promise  to  my  American  friends. 


!84  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

He  was  anxious  to  say  Mass  that  day  at  Knock, 
so  we  left  the  convent  as  early  as  I  could  manage 
to  travel,  and  here  I  found  for  the  first  time  that 
there  was  a  very  decided  ecclesiastical  opposition 
to  the  pilgrimage  to  Knock.  Several  of  the 
sisters  were  very  anxious  to  go  with  me,  but  the 
archbishop  had  positively  forbidden  them  to  visit 
there.  No  doubt  the  position  was  a  very  difficult 
one  for  ecclesiastical  authority,  but  of  that  I  shall 
speak  later. 

Only  those  who  have  travelled  in  Ireland  can 
have  any  idea  of  the  wretched  conveyances  in 
country  places.  We  had  to  travel  over  a  rough 
hill-road,  a  succession  of  hills  and  valleys,  and  in 
such  a  conveyance  !  Father  Neligan  got  out  of  the 
car  and  preferred  walking  a  great  part  of  the  way  ; 
as  for  myself,  I  became  so  seriously  ill,  that  it  was 
a  question  whether  I  could  reach  Knock  alive. 


CHAPTER    XL 

VISIT   TO   KNOCK. 

Arrival  at  Knock  —  Welcomed  by  Archdeacon  Cavanagh  —  Prayer  on  the 
Scene  of  the  Apparition — A  Miraculous  Restoration — Requested 
to  Found  a  Convent  at  Knock — Letters  from  Dr.  McEvilly,  Arch- 
bishop of  Tuam,  and  Father  Cavanagh  —  Care  in  Getting  Permis- 
sions—  Visit  to  Tuam —  Reception  by  the  Archbishop  —  He  Writes 
a  letter  of  Approval  —  Comments  on  the  Archbishop's  Letter  —  Letter 
to  Bishop  Higgins — His  Reply  —  Change  of  Ground  by  the  Arch- 
bishop—  His  Inexplicable  Anger  —  Injustice  of  Catholic  Methods  of 
Discipline  —  Opinion  of  the  Late  Bishop  of  Cavan — The  Harold's 
Cross  Convent  —  Its  History  and  Peculiarities  —  Cordial  Reception 
at  Newry  —  Bishop  Leahy's  Letter  —  Return  to  Dublin  —  Astonish- 
ing Reception  at  Harold's  Cross — Forbidden  Shelter  by  Cardinal 
McCabe  —  Turned  into  the  Winter  Streets  by  his  Order  —  Popular 
Hatred  of  Cardinal  McCabe— Why  was  I  so  Treated  — A  Dark 
Mystery  —  Remarkable  Letter  from  Bishop  Higgins. 

WITH  what  anxious  love  and  desire  we  who  had 
not  yet  visited  this  shrine  watched  for  the  first 
glimpse  of  the  favored  place,  and  how  eagerly  the 
first  glimpse  was  pointed  out  to  us  by  the  "  boy  " 
who  drove  us  !  It  was  a  clear  winter  day,  beauti- 
fully bright  for  that  part  of  Ireland.  And  what 
did  we  see  from  the  eminence  of  the  first  hill 
which  overlooked  the  valley  where  the  church  of 
Knock  is  situated  ?  A  plain,  poor  church,  a  few 
rude  cottages,  a  desolate,  uncultivated  country. 
But  it  was  Knock  —  in  the  eyes  of  faith,  the  only 
185 


!86  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

site  in  Ireland  believed  to  have  been  favored  with 
the  miraculous  presence  of  the  Mother  of  Jesus. 

Archdeacon  Cavanagh  was  expecting  us,  and 
waiting  for  us.  The  car  drove  up  to  the  church, 
and  there  we  found  him.  His  loving  welcome  to 
myself  I  can  never  forget,  though  we  may  never 
meet  again  in  this  world.  He  took  both  my 
hands,  clasped  them  warmly  in  his  own,  and 
exclaimed,  "  A  hundred  thousand  welcomes.  We 
have  got  you  now,  and  we  will  never  let  you  go,"  — 
yet  in  a  few  months  this  good  but  easily-led  priest 
was  deceived  by  people  whose  only  interest  was 
their  own  selfish  ends,  and  a  glorious  undertaking 
for  Ireland  and  for  religion  was  blighted  forever. 

I  turned  from  Father  Cavanagh  to  offer  a 
prayer  on  the  very  spot  where  the  apparition  had 
taken  place.  Let  it  be  remembered  how  delicate 
my  health  was,  and  that  for.  four  years  I  had  been 
unable  to  kneel,  even  for  a  moment.  I  know  not 
how,  but  I  found  myself  on  my  knees  in  an  instant, 
and,  I  know  not  how,  I  found  myself  completely 
cured  ;  it  was  certainly  a  cure  of  a  very  remark- 
able kind.  I  came  to  Knock  that  morning,  or 
rather  a  few  moments  before,  a  helpless  invalid, 
and  in  a  moment  I  felt  health  and  life  and  vigor. 

Father  Neligan  was,  as  I  have  said,  waiting  to 
say  Mass,  and  as  I  did  not  wish  to  detain  him  a 
moment  longer  than  was  necessary,  I  turned  to 


MY  MIRACULOUS  CURE.  jg/ 

him  and  Father  Cavanagh,  saying,  briefly,  "  I  am 
cured,"  and  hastened  into  the  church.  I  found 
myself  able  to  kneel  without  pain  during  the 
whole  Mass. 

I  do  not  intend  to  enter  into  what  I  may  call 
the  spiritual  part  of  my  life  at  Knock  or  else- 
where. My  present  work  concerns  only  the  cir- 
cumstances which  have  obliged  me  to  abandon  my 
work  for  Ireland,  and  I  may  say  the  work  for  reli- 
gion, which  I  had  begun  and  hoped  to  carry  out 
there,  and  the  work  which  I  was  authorized  to  do 
by  the  present  pope. 

By  Father  Cavanagh's  advice,  I  arranged  to  stop 
in  Knock  until  I  received  a  letter  from  Archbishop 
McEvilly.  My  restoration  to  health  made  Father 
Cavanagh  still  more  anxious  that  I  should  found  a 
convent  here.  But  in  all  such  cases  the  rules  of 
the  Catholic  church  very  properly  require  that  the 
consent  of  the  bishop  should  be  obtained,  as  well 
as  the  consent  of  the  parish  priest.  There  was 
no  delay  in  this,  however,  for  I  received  the  next 
day  the  following  letter  from  the  Archbishop  of 
Tuam  :  — 

'"TuAM,  Nov.   13,  1881. 

"  MY  DEAR  MOTHER  CLARE,  —  I  intended  leav- 
ing here  next  week,  but  as  you  promise  to  favor 
us  with  a  visit,  I  shall  remain  here  on  Monday  and 
Tuesday  to  see  you,  and  I  shall  promise  you 


1 88  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

the  hospitality  of  the  good  nuns  here  during  your 
stay. 

"  The  idea  you  have  in  your  mind,  and  wish  to 
carry  out,  is  admirable,  and  worthy  of  a  religious 
soul,  and  I  am  sure  it  is  one  that  must  commend 
itself  to  every  one  that  has  the  salvation  of  souls 
at  heart.  If  it  had  the  effect  of  encouraging  emi- 
gration, I  could  not  for  a  moment  have  anything 
to  say  to  it.  There  is  plenty  of  room  and  to 
spare  for  all  our  people  at  home,  if  things  were 
well  managed.  No  people  feel  more  keenly  than 
do  our  Irish  Catholics,  the  force  of  the  Psalm- 
ist's words,  '  Better  is  a  little  to  the  just  than 
great  riches  to  the  wicked'  (Ps.  xxxv.  16).  Nor 
is  there  any  part  of  what  I  conceive  to  be  a  good 
bill,  taken  all  in  all  —  a  bill  which,  in  my  mind,  is 
entitled  to  a  fair  trial  (the  late  tenant  bill)  so 
objectionable  as  that  portion  of  it  that  has  refer- 
ence to  emigration.  Still,  regarded  from  your 
point  of  view,  considering  that  people  will  emi- 
grate, I  think  your  scheme  entitled  to  every  con- 
sideration, and  practicable  encouragement.  It 
has  for  its  object  to  mitigate  a  necessary'  evil, 
and  save  souls  that  might  otherwise  have  been 
lost  forever.  As  such,  I  cannot  but  encourage  it. 

"  Very  faithfully  yours, 
f  "  JOHN  McEviLLY,  Archbishop  of  Tnam." 

I  also  had  the  following  letter  from  Father  Cav 
anagh  :  — 


LETTER   FROM  FATHER   CAVANAGH. 


189 


"  KNOCK,  Nov.  16,  1881. 

"  DEAR  SISTER  MARY  FRANCIS  CLARE,  —  It  is 
my  highest  ambition  and  most  ardent  desire  to  see 
a  convent  established  at  Knock,  as  I  am  convinced 
that  it  would  prove  productive  of  incalculable 
good,  and  the  source  of  numberless  blessings  to 
the  people,  not  only  of  the  locality,  but  to  the 
many  pious  pilgrims  who  resort  here  from  America, 
and  so  many  other  countries. 

"  I  trust  that  you  will,  in  the  merciful  designs  of 
God,  become  the  founder  of  the  religious  commu- 
nity so  earnestly  longed  for,  as  I  am  satisfied  that 
under  your  benign  care  the  good  work  would 
prosper  and  succeed. 

"  I  trust  that  nothing  will  deter  you  from  com- 
plying with  my  request. 

"  I  remain,  dear  Sister  Clare, 

"  Yours  faithfully  in  Jesus  Christ, 

"B.  CAVANAGH,  P.  P.,  Archdeacon." 

I  was,  in  fact,  if  possible,  over-cautious  in  taking 
care  that  I  should  have  the  usual  episcopal,  not 
only  permission,  but  even  approbation,  for  what  I 
did.  If  I  had  foreseen  my  future  troubles  I  could 
scarcely  have  acted  more  judiciously ;  but  I  was 
to  learn,  all  too  soon,  that  neither  prudence  nor 
justice  nor  the  most  exact  observance  of  religious 
discipline  would  avail,  where  ecclesiastics,  who^ 
should  have  been  the  first  to  protect  a  woman  and 
a  sister,  were  determined  to  ruin  her  as  far  as  they 
could  do  so. 


icp 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


I  need  scarcely  say  that  Father  Cavanagh  was 
greatly  rejoiced  when  he  saw  the  archbishop's 
letter.  It  seemed  to  be  all  that  he  could  desire  or 
hope  for,  and  my  cure,  which  was  so  complete, 
removed  every  other  difficulty.  By  his  advice  I 
determined  on  going  without  a  day's  delay  to 
Tuam,  as  the  archbishop  had  so  kindly  invited  me. 
There  was  no  line  of  railway  available  from  Knock 
to  Tuam,  so  I  was  obliged  to  drive  a  distance  of 
forty  miles.  If  there  was  anything  to  show  how 
complete  my  recovery  was,  the  fact  that  I  was 
able  to  make  this  journey  was  sufficient. 

I  was  most  anxious  that  my  confessor,  the  Rev. 
M.  Neligan,  should  accompany  me  to  Tuam,  but 
he  could  not  do  so.  I  know  that  he  was  anxious 
to  return  to  Kenmare,  where  he  had  very  labori- 
ous parish  duties,  and  I  felt  I  could  not  press  him 
unduly. 

Now  as  all  the  charges  which  have  been  made 
against  me,  both  in  England  and  America,  are 
founded  on  the  false  statements  circulated  first  by 
Cardinal  McCabe,  and  instigated  by  the  Kenmare 
Sisters  and  Bishop  Higgins,  I  ask  careful  attention 
to  the  following  points,  though  they  are  a  repeti- 
tion of  what  has  already  been  said. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  I  had  arranged  to 
return  to  Newry  Convent  from  Kenmare;  that  I 
had  obtained  permission  to  visit  Knock  on  my 


ARRIVAL  AT  TUAM.  I9I 

way  ;  that  it  was  known  to  my  superiors  why  I 
wished  to  go  there,  (i)  out  of  devotion  to  the  place, 
(2)  to  see  if  I  should  found  a  convent  there  for  the 
special  purpose  which  had  been  so  long  in  my 
mind,  and  which  I  knew  could  only  be  carried  out 
in  an  institution  for  the  purpose. 

I  had  all  the  canonical  permission  necessary, 
and  I  acted  throughout  in  accordance  with  the 
rules  of  the  church  to  which  I  belonged. 

I  could  not  induce  Father  Neligan  to  go  with 
me  to  Tuam,  nor  was  there  really  the  least  occa- 
sion for  him  to  do  so,  and  I  believe  if  he  had  done 
so,  the  result  would  not  have  been  different,  as  far 
as  I  am  concerned. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  archbishop  highly 
approved  of  my  plans,  and  as  I  have  already  said, 
it  was  no  new,  sudden  idea,  it  was  a  design  long 
cherished,  but  which  was  quite  hopeless  to  attempt, 
in  consequence  of  the  opposition  of  the  sisters, 
while  I  remained  in  Kenmare. 

I  was  very  kindly  received  in  the  Presentation 
Convent  at  Tuam,  and  had  an  interview  with  the 
archbishop  the  next  morning.  He  asked  me  to  re- 
main with  them  for  the  present,  and  they  cordially 
seconded  his  wish.  My  first  desire  was  to  get  the 
written  permission  of  the  archbishop  for  the  found- 
ation at  Knock.  Dr.  McEvilly  assured  me  many 
times  that  "  his  word  "  was  quite  sufficient,  and 


192 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


seemed  to  think  it  unreasonable  that  I  should  ask 
a  written  authorization,  and  I  know  not  why  I  was 
so  persistent. 

I  think  I  arrived  in  Tuam  on  Monday.  On 
Tuesday,  this  interview  took  place  ;  the  archbishop 
said  he  would  give  the  leave  in  writing,  later  on  ; 
I  replied,  I  would  willingly  wait  a  fortnight,  if  he 
wished  it,  but  that  he  must  remember  the  peculiar 
position  I  was  in,  and  see  how  necessary  it  was  for 
me  to  have  such  a  document. 

The  next  day,  Wednesday,  Nov.  23,  the  arch- 
bishop told  me,  that  he  sat  down  to  his  desk  to 
write  letters,  that  some  impulse  for  which  he  could 
not  account,  came  over  him,  and  he  wrote  the 
document  subjoined  here.  This  document  he  left 
on  his  desk  in  an  envelope  directed  to  me,  intend- 
ing to  bring  it  to  me  himself.  To  his  surprise,  he 
found  the  letter  gone,  and  on  asking  the  servant 
about  it,  the  man  told  him  he  had  posted  it.  The 
archbishop  told  me  the  man  had  never  acted  in 
this  way  before,  and  said  to  me  next  day,  I  must 
have  thought  it  stiff  and  formal  to  have  sent  it  by 
post,  as  the  archbishop's  house  and  the  convent 
were  just  opposite  each  other. 

"  TUAM,  Nov.  23, 1881. 

"  DEAR  MOTHER  MARY  CLARE,  —  It  gives  us 
great  pleasure  to  accede  to  your  request  to  be  per- 
mitted to  build  a  convent  of  your  order  at  Knock, 


LETTER   OF  ARCHBISHOP  Me  EVILLY.         ^3 

in  this  diocese  of  Tuam.  This  permission  is 
merely  conditional  at  present.  We  grant  it  on 
condition,  that  before  the  foundation  of  the  pro- 
jected convent  is  laid,  ample  funds  are  provided 
for  bringing  the  building  to  a  successful  conclu- 
sion, and  security  given  for  ample  pre-existing 
funds  for  the  permanent  support  of  the  sisters  who 
may  be  located  there  to  do  the  work  of  God.  We 
would,  moreover,  have  it  distinctly  understood, 
that  in  thus  acceding  to  your  pious  request,  it  is 
by  no  means  to  be  inferred  that  we  sanction  or  ap- 
prove of  the  alleged  apparitions  or  miracles  said  to 
have  occurred  at  Knock.  As  at  present  disposed, 
we  neither  approve  nor  disapprove  of  such,  we  re- 
serve our  judgment  until  the  time  comes,  if  ever, 
for  canonically  and  judicially  investigating  the 
whole  matter.  But  at  present  we  neither  admit 
nor  reject  the  alleged  occurrences.  So  that  we  are 
in  a  position  to  approach  the  consideration  of  the 
subject  with  a  perfectly  unbiased  mind. 

Commending  your  pious  undertaking  to  the 
mercy  of  God,  to  the  favor  of  His  ever-glorious  and 
Immaculate  Mother,  and  her  chaste  spouse,  St. 
Joseph,  the  Foster  Father  of  the  Son  of  God, 
and  patron  of  the  Universal  church, 
"  Very  faithfully  yours, 

"  JOHN,  Archbishop  of  Tuam." 

Several  things  should  be  noticed  in  this  docu- 
ment.    First :  The  archbishop  required  that  suffi- 


194 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


cient  funds  should  be  obtained  before  the  convent 
was  commenced.  Second  :  he  takes  the  opportu- 
nity of  disassociating  the  work  altogether  from  any 
connection  with  the  alleged  miracles  at  Knock. 
In  this  connection  the  archbishop  uses  an  expres- 
sion which  I  found  was  a  favorite  one,  and  one 
which  was  as  unpleasant  to  those  in  whose  regard 
it  was  used,  as  it  was  convenient  to  himself.  He 
says,  "  as  at  present  disposed,  we  neither  approve 
or  disapprove  of  such."  In  time  to  come,  I  had 
many  weary  hours  in  consequence  of  this  bishop's 
curious  style  of  not  deciding  either  for  or  against 
anything.  In  such  a  case  as  that  of  deciding  for 
or  against  a  miraculous  shrine  there  may  have  been 
need  of  this  non-committal  policy,  but  when  this 
happened  in  ordinary  cases,  which  required  a  deci- 
sion for  or  against  a  certain  course  of  action,  it 
caused  very  serious  trouble. 

I  learned,  later  on,  from  many  of  the  arch- 
bishop's own  priests,  that  this  was  his  favorite  an- 
swer. So  far,  all  seemed  well  to  my  ignorance  and 
inexperience.  Father  Cavanagh  came  to  me  at 
Tuam,  and  was  greatly  rejoiced  at  the  archbishop's 
approval  of  our  plans.  I  am  convinced  that  there 
was  not  an  ecclesiastic  in  Ireland,  who  would  have 
taken  a  greater  interest  in  my  work  for  the  poor, 
or  would  have  encouraged  it  more  heartily,  than 
the  Archbishop  of  Tuam,  but  circumstances  were 
against  him  as  well  as  against  myself. 


APPEALS  FOR   HELP. 


195 


Full  of  hope  and  joy,  I  at  once  sent  out  appeals 
for  help,  and  found  encouragement  on  every  side. 
The  dear  and  good  reverend  mother  of  the  Presen- 
tation Convent,  handed  me  $25.00,  a  large  gift 
from  their  poverty,  so  that  she  might  have  the 
honor  of  giving  the  first  donation  for  the  work  at 
Knock. 

I  wrote  at  once,  both  to  Newry  and  Kenmare, 
and  received  encouraging  replies  from  both  places, 
and  this  should  be  noted  in  view  of  subsequent 
events. 

I  wrote  to  Bishop  Higgins,  also,  but  it  cost  me  a 
great  deal  to  do  so ;  still,  it  seemed  the  right  thing 
to  do,  yet  doing  right,  in  my  case  at  least,  has  not 
always  brought  its  own  reward.  I  wrote,  also, 
at  once  to  Bishop  Leahy  of  Dromore  (Newry) 
diocese. 

Bishop  Higgins,  as  will  be  seen  from  his  letter, 
was  then  vicar-capitular,  which  I  may  explain,  for 
the  benefit  of  the  uninitiated,  is  the  title  held  by 
the  priest  appointed  to  administer  the  affairs  of  a 
diocese  after  the  death  of  a  bishop,  and  until  his 
successor  assumes  the  reins  of  government. 

But  Bishop  Higgins  at  this  time  was,  I  think, 
appointed  bishop  ;  I  heard  later  that  as  vicar-capi- 
tular, he  had  no  power  to  grant  me  permission  to 
remove  from  Kenmare  to  any  other  convent.  I 
give  no  opinion  on  this  subject,  however,  nor 


196  THE.  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

would  I  note  it,  except  that  he  has  made  so  many 
criticisms  on  the  actions  of  other  bishops.  As  far 
as  I  was  concerned,  I  was  not  trained  to  know 
canon  law,  and  if  it  was  violated  in  my  case  I 
was  not  the  one  to  blame. 

One  thing  is  certain,  Bishop  Higgins  is  respon- 
sible for  all  the  scandal  that  has  been  caused,  and 
for  the  ruin  of  a  work  which  would  have  been  of 
the  greatest  utility  to  our  unhappy  country. 

That  he  was  urged  to  act  as  he  did,  by  others,  I 
have  no  doubt ;  but  the  acts  were  none  the  less 
his  own.  I  have  heard  from  priests  on  whose 
word  I  could  entirely  rely,  that  the  Kenmare  sis- 
ters were  greatly  disconcerted  when  they  found 
that  I  had  met  such  a  warm  welcome  in  Tuam, 
and  that  I  was  about  to  undertake  such  an  impor- 
tant work,  and  naturally,  they  wished  to  discour- 
age it. 

I  give  here  a  copy  of  one  of  Bishop  Higgins's 
letters,  the  original  of  which  I  hold,  and  which  will 
show  that  I  had  due  permission  for  leaving  Ken- 
mare  though  I  was  accused,  through  his  interfer- 
ence, of  having  gone  without  leave. 

"TRALEE,  Co.  KERRY,  Dec.  8,  1881. 

"  DEAR  SISTER,; — •.  As  you  are  aware,  I  gave  the 
due  canonical  sanction,  to  your  requisition  to  be- 
come a  member  of  the  .N^wry,  cpQvent  of  your 


LETTER  FROM  BISHOP    HIGGINS. 


197 


Order.  Mother  Abbess  of  Kenmare  gave  her 
sanction  to  the  same  request ;  the  Right  Rev. 
Leahy  and  the  community  at  Newry  formally  ac- 
cepted the  transfer,  and  duly  intimated  their  accep- 
tance to  you  and  Mother  Teresa.  In  pursuance 
of  this  arrangement,  you  left  this  diocese  for 
Newry. 

"Things  being  so,  you  have  passed  from  my  ju- 
risdiction, and  have  become  subject  to  that  of  the 
Most  Rev.,  the  Ordinary  of  Dromore,  and  I  have 
no  authority  whatever  to  direct  or  control  your 
action  ;  that  authority,  I  repeat,  rests  in  the  hands 
of  Dr.  Leahy. 

"  At  the  same  time,  I  am  quite  willing  to  aid  your 
view  of  abiding  in  the  diocese  of  Tuam,  provided 
you  suggest  a  way  in  which  I  can  act  without 
seeming  intrusive  to  their  lordships  of  Tuam  and 
Dromore.  I  am  not  a  bishop,  you  know,  and  I  am 
much  younger,  and  in  every  way  beneath  them. 
"  Yours  faithfully, 

"A.  HIGGINS, 

' '  Vicar-  Capitular. ' ' 

Now  it  should  be  noted  here  that  Bishop  Hig- 
gius  states  clearly  (i)  I  had  his  permission  to  leave 
Kenmare  ;  (2)  that  he  had  no  jurisdiction  over  me 
after  I  left  it ;  and  (3)  that  he  did  not  object  to  my 
making  the  foundation  at  Knock.  This  letter,  it 
will  be  observed,  was  written  on  the  eighth  of 
December. 


198 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


I  had  also  written  to  Newry  to  Bishop  Leahy. 
In  fact,  I  had  done  all  that  was  necessary,  and 
more  than  was  necessary,  and  Bishop  Higgins's 
letter,  with  its  protestations  of  non-interference 
and  professions  of  kindness,  so  completely  de- 
ceived me  that  I  did  not  suppose  it  possible, 
whatever  his  feelings  against  me  might  be,  that 
he  was  actually  then  destroying  my  happiness 
for  life,  and  bringing  on  me  unmerited  reproach 
and  suffering,  from  which  nothing  now  can  ever 
relieve  me. 

As  I  was  anxious  to  return  to  Knock  for  a  few 
days,  I  obtained  leave  from  Archbishop  McEvilly 
to  do  so,  and  he  very  willingly  granted  me  the 
permission.  On  my  return  to  Tuam,  the  storm 
burst.  On,  I  think  the  thirteenth  of  December, 
Archbishop  McEvilly  sent  for  me  to  see  him  in  the 
convent  parlor.  The  reverend  mother  of  the 
Presentation  Convent  told  me  he  was  very  angry 
and  excited  about  something,  she  knew  not  what. 
I  went,  wondering  what  could  be  the  trouble,  and 
I  was  soon  told.  The  archbishop  held  an  open 
letter  in  his  hand,  and  said  he  had  very  unpleasant 
news,  that  he  feared  I  had  done  something  wrong, 
he  would  not  even  tell  me  what ;  in  fact  he  was 
greatly  excited  and  greatly  vexed,  and  I  am  not 
surprised  that  he  should  have  been  so,  when  I 
learned  later  the  underhanded  effort  which  was 


THE  ARCHBISHOP  IS  ANGRY.  j^g 

made  by  Bishop  Higgins  to  injure  me  and  de- 
stroy my  happy  relations  with  him. 

I  could  only  reply  that  as  his  grace  would  not 
tell  me  what  I  was  accused  of,  nor  who  were  my 
accusers,  I  could  say  nothing.  Certainly  nothing 
could  have  been  more  unjust ;  and  it  is  precisely 
this  unfortunate  policy  of  condemning  people  with- 
out allowing  them  any  chance  of  being  heard,  or  of 
knowing  who  are  their  accusers,  which  brings  such 
discredit  on  the  Roman  church. 

I  said  to  myself,  "  it  cannot  be  Bishop  Higgins 
or  the  Kenmare  sisters,  as  I  had  a  letter  a  few 
days  ago  (on  the  eighth  of  December)  from  the  for- 
mer" ;  in  fact,  it  will  be  easily  seen  I  was  terribly 
perplexed.  I  knew  of  course  some  secret  enemy 
had  done  this,  but  Bishop  Higgins's  letter,  and  an 
apparently  friendly  letter  which  I  had  received 
from  the  superioress  in  Kenmare,  had  prevented 
me  from  suspecting  them  as  otherwise  I  should 
have  done.  This  was  the  cause  of  all  my  future 
trouble.  If  I  had  been  more  suspicious,  all  might 
have  been  well. 

I  said  at  once,  "  Well,  your  grace,  you  have  been 
very  kind  to  me,  I  will  not  embarrass  you  further ; 
I  can  go  to  Newry  convent.  I  know  how  glad 
they  would  be  to  have  me  there."  To  Kenmare  I 
had  determined  never  to  go  again.  I  know  now 
they  hoped  to  drive  me  back  there  by  depriving 


200  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

me  of  a  home  elsewhere ;  but  I  knew  if  they  had 
made  me  suffer  so  much  before  I  left,  how  much 
more  suffering  would  they  not  have  inflicted  on 
me  if  I  came  back  defeated  in  all  my  hopes.  It  is 
very  painful  to  me  to  be  obliged  to  write  of  sisters 
and  priests  as  I  have  done,  but  I  believe  that  it  is 
my  duty  to  tell  the  truth.  Those  who  expose  the 
injuries  and  injustices  which  are  done  in  public 
institutions,  receive  the  support  of  all  honest  men, 
though  they  certainly  are  not  commended  by  those 
whom  they  expose.  In  the  Roman  church,  evil  is 
concealed  and  exposure  prevented  under  the  most 
severe  penalties.  The  man  who  dares  to  speak  is 
put  under  a  ban,  and  is  condemned  for  "  attacking 
the  church."  A  man  might  as  justly  be  con- 
demned for  attacking  the  government  because  he 
denounced  violations  of  law.  Yet  if  the  evil  done 
in  the  church  is  shielded  and  concealed,  so  much 
the  worse  for  the  church ;  but  if  the  evil  is  a 
blot  on  the  church,  why  does  the  church  condemn 
those  who  denounce  it  ?  But,  if  faults  are  con- 
demned, those  who  do  the  evil  should  be  con- 
demned also,  and  if  the  church  allowed  this,  she 
must  denounce  some  of  her  most  exalted  children. 
I  must  here  relate  an  incident  of  convent  life 
of  which  I  was  a  witness  and  helpless  to  interfere. 
I  have  said  that  Miss  O'Hagan,  who  was  superi- 
oress in  Newry  convent,  and  subsequently  in  Ken- 


MSSS   O'ffAGAWS  TROUBLE.  2OI 

mare,  was  in  very  delicate  health.  She  went  to 
Dublin  from  Kenmare,  as  several  of  the  other 
sisters  did  also,  for  medical  advice.  She  was 
accompanied  by  a  young  sister,  and  here  I  may 
say  that  I  was  the  only  one-0f  the  sisters  in  Ken- 
mare  in  really  delicate  health  who  never  left  it  for 
change,  or  for  the  attendance  of  skilled  physicians  ; 
though  my  case  was  far  more  serious  than  theirs, 
and  skilled  medical  attendance  would  have  saved 
me  from  much  suffering. 

While  Miss  O'Hagan  was  in  Dublin,  some  great 
trouble  arose  between  herself  and  the  sisters  with 
whom  she  was  staying,  of  which  this  young  sister 
was  cognizant.  I  do  not  believe  that  Miss 
O'Hagan  was  guilty  of  the  charges  which  were 
made  against  her  by  this  sister  and  the  sisters 
with  whom  she  was  staying,  but  I  know  that  this 
young  sister  thought  that  she  was  guilty.  I  spoke 
to  our  bishop,  then  Dr.  Moriarty,  about  the  matter 
afterwards,  and  saw  that  he,  too,  believed  the 
accusation,  but  Miss  O'Hagan's  relatives  were  too 
influential  to  allow  of  any  public  scandal  being 
made,  whether  the  grounds  for  doing  so  were  just 
or  unjust. 

The  matter  was  quietly  hushed  up,  and  only 
a  very  few  knew  of  it,  and  certainly  Miss  O'Hagan 
was  never  allowed  to  suffer  for  it  in  any  way. 
The  poor  young  sister,  justly  or  unjustly,  was 


2O2  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

made  the  victim,  though  she  never  spoke  of  the 
subject  to  any  one  except  the  bishop.  I  shall 
never  forget  the  inhumanity  with  which  she  was 
treated.  She  was  even  more  friendless  than  I 
was  ;  and  what  could  she  do  but  bear  the  indig- 
nities which  were  heaped  upon  her?  She  was 
degraded  publicly  before  all  the  sisters.  Her 
black  veil  was  taken  from  her,  and  she  was 
obliged  to  remain  in  her  own  room.  Her  special 

and  vindictive  persecutor  was  Miss  L y  the 

sister  who  had  turned  on  me  with  such  violent 
language  in  Newry  Convent,  because  she  thought 
that  I  had  spoken  to  the  bishop  about  the  unwis- 
dom of  running  into  debt.  To  obtain  peace,  this 
poor  sister  was  obliged  to  sign  a  document  deny- 
ing all  that  she  had  previously  stated,  and  whether 
she  believed  it  to  be  false  or  not,  she  had  no 
other  course.  The  bishop  told  me  afterwards 
that  it  was  not  at  all  uncommon  for  some  sisters 
with  more  zeal  than  brains,  to  make  the  most  ridic- 
ulous charges  against  the  superior. 

But,  to  return  to  my  own  troubles,  Archbishop 
McEvilly  was  very  decided  ;  he  said,  "  I  will  not 
let  you  go,  but  you  had  better  go  to  Newry,  see 
Bishop  Leahy,  and  get  from  him  a  written  transfer 
to  my  diocese,  and,  when  you  come  back  with  it, 
I  will  receive  you  with  open  arms." 

It  was  fearful  winter  weather,  heavy  snow  and 


SENT   TO  DUBLIN. 


203 


frost,  and  I  had  spent  many  years  in  Kenmare, 
where  I  had  never  been  in  any  way  exposed  to 
severe  cold,  and  to  travel  now  was  at  the  risk  of 
my  life. 

I  had  already  received  a  very  kind  telegram 
from  Bishop  Leahy,  who  was  quite  satisfied  with 
all  the  arrangements,  and  this  should  have  been 
sufficient  for  Dr.  McEvilly.  I  asked  Archbishop 
McEvilly  could  I  not  write  to  him  for  this  docu- 
ment. "No,"  he  said,  "you  must  go  and  get 
it."  Then  I  offered  him  three  times  to  give  up 
the  Knock  foundation  ;  could  I  have  done  more  ?  I 
am  glad  I  did  so,  for  however  I  have  been  made 
to  suffer,  my  conscience  at  least  has  been  clear. 

The  archbishop  said  he  could  not  decide  pos- 
itively that  day,  but  the  next  day  he  came  to  the 
convent  very  early  and  gave  me  just  an  hour's 
notice  to  take  the  steam  cars  for  Dublin.  Shall  I 
ever  forget  that  terrible  day  and  that  weary  jour- 
ney ?  It  is  a  miracle  that  I  lived  through  it  all  ; 
let  it  be  remembered  that  I  had  suffered  for  years 
from  acute  rheumatism  and  a  very  serious  internal 
complaint,  besides  general  delicacy  of  constitution, 
and  that  I  had  not  for  years  been  exposed  to  the 
weather ;  so  the  risk  I  ran  could  hardly  be  over- 
estimated. 

I  must  say  here,  as  I  am  writing  everything,  — 
and  an  autobiography,  to  be  truthful,  should  contain 


204 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


all  important  matters,  —  that  some  of  the  arch- 
bishop's priests  told  me  he  wanted  to  get  rid  of  me 
quietly,  and  that  this  whole  matter  was  pre-ar- 
ranged with  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin  and  Bishop 

Higgins,  certainly  Miss  L y,  then  superioress 

in  Kenmare,  knew  all  that  was  done  and  every 
move  I  made.  I  do  not  like  to  make  any  charges 
which  I  cannot  prove ;  I  can  only  say  that 
the  priests  who  told  me  this  were  in  the  way  of 
knowing  his  mind ;  but  his  actions,  as  will  be  seen 
in  the  next  few  pages,  show  that  if  he  had  not 
then  determined  to  get  rid  of  me  in  this  way,  he 
did  so  a  few  days  later. 

A  very  dear  friend,  the  late  Bishop  of  Cavan,  to 
whom  I  told  all  my  troubles  later  on,  laughed  at 
all  this  business,  and  said  a  verbal  permission  for 
a  sister  coming  from  one  convent  to  another  was 
all  that  was  needed,  and  was  all  he  gave  in  such 
cases. 

I  went  directly  to  Dublin,  and  to  the  convent  of 
Poor  Clares  in  Harold's  Cross,  accompanied  by  my 

faithful  friend  and  secretary,  Miss  D ,  who 

never  left  me. 

This  convent  was  founded  in  the  early  part  of 
the  present  century  by  some  two  or  three  ladies 
who  had  belonged  to  a  Poor  Clare  convent  which 
was  broken  up  by  the  English  government  during 
the  time  of  the  Penal  laws. 


THE  POOR   CLARES. 


2O5 


The  sisters  at  that  time  were  real  Poor  Clares, 
and  kept  the  fasts,  the  strict  inclosure,  and  all  the 
rules  of  this  ancient  order,  but  they  were  dis- 
persed, and  for  a  time,  at  least,  lived  as  secular 
ladies  in  a  small  house  in  Dublin.  They  reso- 
lutely determined  to  live  together  again,  and  as  at 
that  time  there  were  no  Sisters  of  Mercy,  nor  any 
teaching  order,  the  archbishop  of  Dublin  urged  that 
they  should  do  so,  but  on  conditions  which  practi- 
cally caused  them  to  cease  to  be  Poor  Clares. 
Certainly,  they  still  bear  the  name,  but  every 
single  rule  and  observance  of  the  order  was  aban- 
doned. 

They  were  no  longer  to  observe  any  fasts 
except  those  of  the  church,  though  the  rule  of  the 
Poor  Clares  required  perpetual  fasting  and  absti- 
nence. They  were  to  say  a  short  office,  and  the 
rule  of  the  ancient  order  of  Poor  Clares  required 
them  to  say  the  divine  office  in  choir ;  they  were 
to  receive  orphans,  to  have  only  a  nominal  inclos- 
ure, though  the  original  rule  of  the  Poor  Clares 
required  that  they  should  observe  the  strictest  in- 
closure. The  Holy  See,  however,  on  the  repre- 
sentation of  the  archbishop,  and  considering  the 
urgent  necessity  of  the  case,  granted  all  the 
dispensations,  and  the  sisters  assumed  a  plain 
black  dress,  though  the  ancient  Poor  Clares'  habit 
was  brown. 


206  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

All  was  certainly  permitted  by  Rome,  but  it 
seemed  to  many  that  to  have  founded  a  new  order, 
or  to  have  taken  up  the  elastic  rule  of  St.  Francis, 
would  have  been  better.  The  troubled  times  and 
circumstances,  no  doubt,  prevented  such  an  idea 
from  entering  the  mind  of  the  archbishop,  and  he 
was  only  too  thankful  to  use  the  material  he  had 
in  hand,  as  it  enabled  him  to  carry  out  his  plans 
quietly  and  quickly. 

After  a  time  the  convent  in  Newry,  where  I 
was  professed,  was  founded  from  this  Poor  Clare 
convent  in  Harold's  Cross,  and  kept  the  observ- 
ances of  the  sisters  of  the  convent  from  whence  they 
came.  Though  each  convent  of  the  order  was  en- 
tirely separate  from  the  other,  we  certainly  looked 
on  Harold's  Cross  as  a  sort  of  "  Mother  House," 
it  being  the  first  founded. 

Each  convent  also  was  under  the  exclusive  con- 
trol of  the  bishop  of  the  diocese  in  which  it  was 
situated,  but  as  sickness  or  any  other  necessity 
obliged  us  to  visit  Dublin  from  time  to  time,  we 
always  stopped  with  and  received  the  kindest  hos- 
pitality from  the  sisters  at  Harold's  Cross.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  I  had  stopped  there  with  the 
other  sisters,  on  our  way  from  Newry  to  Kenmare, 
and  that  different  sisters  had  gone  there  from  Ken- 
mare  for  medical  advice,  or  in  passing  on  their 
way  from  other  places. 


THE  HAROLD'S   CROSS  SISTERS. 


2O7 


I  need  not  say  that  the  dear  sisters  gave  me  a 
warm  welcome,  and  that  they  sympathized  with  my 
troubles.  They  wished  me  to  remain  with  them  for 
some  time,  but  I  was  far  too  anxious  to  have  my 
affairs  settled  to  delay  even  an  hour  that  was  not 
necessary. 

As  I  was  greatly  fatigued,  I  decided  not  to  go 
to  Newry  the  next  day,  but  to  rest  with  them,  and 
I  took  the  opportunity  of  seeing  two  very  eminent 
surgeons  regarding  my  case.  I  also  telegraphed 
to  Cork  to  the  doctor  who  attended  me  in  Ken- 
mare  for  the  internal  trouble  from  which  I  suffered 
so  long,  and  which  was  believed  to  be  incurable. 
I  was  anxious  that  he  should  see  me,  as  no  one 
could  give  better  evidence  of  my  cure.  He  had 
attended  me  at  Kenmare, — although  he  was  not 
brought  there  for  me  by  the  sisters,  as  they  would 
not  have  allowed  any  such  expenditure  for  me, 
though  the  doctor  there  was  so  incapable  as  to  be 
unable  to  do  what  was  absolutely  necessary  for  me. 

Dr. telegraphed  to  me  that  he  would  come 

up  on  Sunday,  though  to  do  so  he  should  travel  all 
night.  I  therefore  decided  to  go  the  next  day, 
Friday,  Dec.  16,  to  Newry;  by  taking  a  fast  train 
and  starting  early  in  the  morning,  I  knew  that  I 
could  return  to  Harold's  Cross  the  same  day,  and 
I  proposed  to  rest  on  Saturday,  and  on  Monday  to 
return  to  Tuam  with  the  document  for  which  Dr. 
McEvilly  had  sent  me. 


208  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

I  was  received  with  the  greatest  affection  by  the 
sisters  at  Newry,  after  my  many  years  of  absence 
there  were  many  changes,  but  there  was  no  change 
in  their  love  for  me.  They  were  very  anxious 
that  I  should  remain  some  days  with  them,  and  I 
was  equally  anxious  to  do  so  myself,  but  still  I  felt 
that  duty  called  me  to  my  work  elsewhere,  and  I 
resisted  all  their  kind  entreaties. 

The  dear  reverend  mother  had  been  my  mistress 
of  novices,  and  she  knew  from  others  beside  my- 
self, the  treatment  which  I  had  to  bear  in  Ken- 
mare,  and  she  had  written  more  than  one  indignant 
letter  on  the  subject  to  the  reverend  mother  and 
sisters  there. 

My  object  was,  to  see  the  bishop  who  had  pro- 
fessed me  there,  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Leahy,  and 
to  obtain  from  him  personally,  the  document  of 
transfer  to  the  Tuam  Diocese,  for  which  Arch- 
bishop McEvilly  had  sent  me. 

Bishop  Leahy  received  me  with  the  greatest 
kindness,  fully  approved  what  I  wished  to  do,  and 
gave  me  the  subjoined  document,  than  which 
nothing  could  be  more  explicit. 

"  CONVENT  OF  SAINT  CLARE,  NEWRY,  Dec.  16, 1881. 
"  MY  DEAR  LORD  BISHPP,  —  I  release  Sister  M. 
Francis  Clare,!  Cusack,  from  whatever    canonical 
obedience  she  owes  to  me  as  Bishop  of  Dromore, 


RELEASE   FROM  BISHOP   LEAHY. 


209 


and    I    hereby    transfer    that    obedience    to    your 
Grace.     With  sincere  esteem, 

"  Your  Grace's  obedient  servant  in  Christ, 

"  BROTHER  JOHN  Pius  LEAHY,  O.  P. 

"  Bishop  of  Dromore. 

"  To  MOST  REV.  DR.  McEviLLY,  Lord  Bishop  of  Tuam:" 

All  this  writing,  however,  was  quite  unneces- 
sary, as  I  had  received  a  despatch  to  this  effect 
and  shown  it  to  Dr.  McEvilly  before  I  left  Tuam. 
But  he  had  to  express  dissatisfaction,  to  get  me  out 
of  his  diocese,  when  he  hoped  to  keep  me  out. 

So  rejoiced  was  I,  that  had  there  been  any  way 
of  going  to  Tuam  across  Ireland,  even  by  travel- 
ling by  day  and  night,  without  going  through  Dub- 
lin, I  think  I  should  have  gone.  All  was  settled 
now,  and  it  seemed  as  if  nothing  more  was  needed 
to  begin  the  great  work  for  poor  Irish  girls,  on 
which  my  heart  had  been  so  long  set. 

I  returned  to  Dublin  by  the  next  train,  though 
as  I  have  said,  I  should  have  liked  to  remain  even 
a  day  with  those  who  were  so  justly  dear  to  me. 
I  arrived  in  Dublin  late  at  night,  and  hastened  to 
Harold's  Cross  Convent.  I  saw  that  the  sisters 
were  greatly  disturbed  and  distressed,  but  I  could 
not  imagine  the  cause ;  in  fact  they  knew  not 
how  to  break  the  terrible  news  to  me.  At  last 
I  was  told  everything.  Cardinal  McCabe,  who 


2io  THE  NUN  OF  K&NMARE. 

had  not  been  in  the  convent  I  think  for  four 
years,  had  called  there  early  with  his  chaplain,  and 
given  orders  that  I  was  to  be  put  out  in  the  streets 
of  Dublin. 

The  sisters  were  greatly  distressed  and  asked 
what  I  had  done  to  receive  such  treatment.  His 
eminence  refused  any  information,  but  to  relieve 
them,  he  sent  his  chaplain  to  the  nearest  telegraph 
office,  with  orders  to  send  a  telegram  after  me,  to 
forbid  my  entering  his  diocese  again.  This  tele- 
gram I  never  received,  and  what  is  still  more  re- 
markable I  could  never  get  any  trace  of  it  from 
the  post-office  authorities.  I  therefore  returned, 
as  I  have  said,  to  the  convent.  One  dear  sister, 
so  far  kept  her  presence  of  mind  and  allowed  her 
charity  to  overcome  her  fear  of  ecclesiastical  cen- 
sure, as  to  implore  the  cardinal  on  her  knees,  to 
allow  me  that  one  night's  shelter,  as  they  knew  I 
could  not  return  till  late,  and  it  was  a  bitter  night. 
His  eminence  granted  her  request,  but  only  on 
one  condition,  that  I  should  be  put  out  on  the 
streets  of  Dublin  at  daybreak  next  morning.  I 
had  nowhere  to  go,  and  the  sisters  did  not  fail  to 
remind  his  eminence  of  this.  All  my  relations 
and  friends  are  Protestants.  If  I  had  gone  to  any 
of  them  they  would  indeed  have  received  me 
kindly,  but  I  knew  not  how  I  could  bring  myself 
to  tell  them  that  I  had  been  put  out  of  a  convent 


EXPELLED  FROM  HAROLD'S   CROSS.        2 1  I 

of  my  own  order,  on  the  streets  of  Dublin,  without 
a  word  of  explanation.  The  sisters  wrote  to  me  a 
year  after,  to  say  how  they  had  wondered  at  my 
calmness,  or  that  I  could  have  borne  the  blow  as 
patiently  as  I  did,  but  I  said,  "  Well,  it  is  a  great 
trial,  but  I  can  return  to  Tuam  to-morrow,"  and  I 
thought  how  much  pleased  the  archbishop  would 
be  to  receive  such  a  document.  He  had  sent  me 
for  it,  he  had  declared  he  would  receive  me  "  with 
open  arms  "  when  I  came  back  ;  all  would  be  well, 
and  God  would  enable  me  to  bear  the  great  fatigue 
and  excitement.  How  could  I  for  a  moment, 
imagine  that  he  had  sent  me  for  a  document  which 
he  did  not  intend  to  accept. 

But  a  short  time  only  had  passed  when  I  was 
handed  a  despatch  (telegram)  from  Archbishop 
McEvilly,  which  is  now  before  me  as  I  write. 

[From  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam.] 

"  To  SISTER  MARY  FRANCIS   CLARE  CUSACK,  Harold's   Cross, 
Dublin,  — 

"  Don't  come  to  the  diocese  till  consent  is  given 
by  me  in  writing,  and  I  judge  first  if  the  letter  be 
satisfactory." 

I  soon  saw  that  all  had  been  carefully  pre-ar- 
ranged ;  for  shortly  after,  I  received  a  despatch 
from  the  Reverend  Mother  of  the  Presentation 
Convent  in  Tuam,  saying  the  archbishop  had 


THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

"  commanded "  her  not  to  receive  me  into  her 
convent  again. 

I  could  not  help  thinking  that  if  I  had  been 
accused  of  committing  a  theft  or  a  murder,  I 
should  have  been  better  treated.  At  least,  I 
should  have  had  a  fair  trial ;  I  should  have  been 
told  what  were  the  charges  against  me.  I  was, 
indeed,  in  a  difficult  position,  and  had  not  one  to 
advise  with  except  the  faithful  companion  who 
stood  by  me  in  all  my  troubles.  I  had,  at  least,  the 
night  for  reflection,  thanks  to  the  humanity  of  the 
dear  sister  who  pleaded  with  my  inexorable  judge. 
I  am  sure  the  Kenmare  Sisters  thought  I  would 
be  driven  back  to  them  for  refuge,  but  even  had  I 
wished  to  go  to  them,  another  set  of  canonical 
proceedings  must  have  been  set  going  to  release 
me  from  Tuam  diocese. 

And  yet  only  one  short  week  before  this  terri- 
ble day,  Archbishop  McEvilly  had  written  to  me 
that  the  work  which  I  hoped  to  do  for  poor  girls 
was  "admirable."  "The  idea,"  he  said,  "you 
have  in  your  mind  and  wish  to  carry  out,  is  ad- 
mirable and  worthy  of  a  religious  soul,  and  I  am 
sure  it  is  one  that  must  commend  itself  to  every 
one  that  has  the  salvation  of  souls  at  heart." 

Houseless,  homeless,  and  desolate,  I  went  out  on 
the  streets  of  Dublin,  the  very  town  where  I  was 
born,  on  that  Saturday  morning.  It  is  true,  as  I 


MY  AWFUL  DILEMMA. 


213 


have  said,  I  had  many  Protestant  relatives,  but  if 
I  went  to  them,  I  felt  I  dared  not  meet  the  just 
indignation  with  which  they  would  denounce  the 
treatment  I  had  met,  and  I  knew  not  but  my  faith 
might  fail  me ;  even  their  affection  would  have 
been  a  temptation  to  me,  because  of  my  need  of  it. 

I  had  no  Catholic  friends  except  the  very  poor, 
and  one  family  who  I  was  sure,  and  the  event 
proved  right,  had  been  embittered  against  me  by 
false  impressions  from  Kenmare. 

It  was  a  time  of  great  excitement  in  Dublin, 
and,  indeed,  in  all  Ireland.  The  people  were 
exasperated  by  the  famine,  which  they  thought 
might  have  been  prevented  by  a  more  paternal 
system  of  government.  They  were  brooding  over 
dark  deeds  which  had  culminated  in  the  awful 
murders  in  the  Phcenix  Park,  Dublin,  a  few  months 
before.  The  archbishop  had  so  exasperated  the 
people  by  his  opposition  to  the  popular  movement, 
that  his  door  had  been  several  times  hung  with 
crape  and  disfigured  with  the  emblems  of  death. 

I  knew  that  if  news  of  the  way  the  cardinal  had 
conducted  himself  towards  me  became  known  in 
Dublin  at  such  a  time,  the  result  would  probably 
have  been  personal  violence,  or  an  attack  on  his 
pastoral  residence ;  and  even  if  I  had  wished  to 
speak,  the  dread  of  such  possible  consequences 
would  have  deterred  me. 


214 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


I  made  one  last  attempt  to  obtain  a  hearing.  I 
sent  for  the  chaplain  of  the  convent  before  leaving 
Harold's  Cross  next  morning,  and  implored  him  to 
go  for  me  to  Cardinal  McCabe  to  show  him  Arch- 
bishop McEvilly's  telegram,  which  proved  that  I 
was  in  Dublin  by  his  desire  and  the  object  for 
which  I  was  there,  and  to  show  him  also  Bishop 
Leahy's  canonical  transfer  to  the  diocese  of  Tuam, 
which  proved  that  I  belonged  to  that  diocese ;  but 
the  priest,  though  courteous  to  myself,  told  me  he 
dare  not  go  to  the  cardinal ;  no  one  he  said  dared 
offer  even  the  least  opposition  to  his  word,  or  ask 
for  any  explanation  when  he  had  once  spoken. 

I  was  still  quite  in  the  dark  as  to  this  mystery ; 
but  I  knew  there  must  be  some  cause  for  it.  I 
was  stunned  and  stupefied  by  the  blow,  but  I  won- 
dered how  Cardinal  McCabe  knew  where  I  was. 
Later  I  knew  he  must  have  got  the  information 
from  the  Kenmare  Sisters  or  from  Tuam,  the 
former  as  I  soon  learned  and,  as  the  reader  will 
see,  employed  some  one  to  watch  all  my  move- 
ments and  to  report  them. 

A  few  months  later,  in  April,  1882,  the  mystery 
was  solved.  I  received  a  letter,  now  before  me, 
from  Bishop  Higgins  in  which  he  told  the  facts  of 
the  case.  What  induced  him  to  do  this  I  do  not 
know,  but  the  date  of  his  letter  caused  a  good 
deal  of  amusement  in  Rome. 


LETTER  FROM  BISHOP  HIGGINS. 


215 


"THE  PALACE,  KILLARNEY,  April  i,  1882. 
"MY  DEAR  SISTER,  —  The  Archbishop  of  Tuam 
fell  into  a  great  oversight  in  receiving  you  into  his 
diocese  without  a  formal  transfer  of  your  obedi- 
ence, made  by  Dr.  Leahy  and  accepted,  all  in 
writing,  by  him  ;  or,  if  you  were  to  be  transferred 
directly  to  Knock,  the  transfer  was  to  be  effected 
by  a  similar  written  agreement  between  him  and 
me.  Hence  your  whole  position  in  Knock  was  a 
false  one,  and  the  longer  you  continued  there  the 
more  false  your  position  would  become ;  every  act 
and  every  arrangement  would  be  invalid,  and  the 
denouement  would  be  terrible  to  you,  and  would 
give  every  one  who  wished  to  be  troublesome  to 
you,  a  handle  of  a  formidable  character.  I  was 
compromised  seriously  in  the  matter.  If  I  said 
nothing,  I  was  sure  to  come  in  for  blame  with  all 
concerned  when  the  real  state  of  things  came  to  be 
known  ;  and  most  justly  you  might  say,  the  arch- 
bishop might  say,  what  conduct  was  this  for  one 
in  your  position  ;  by  a  single  word  you  might  have 
saved  me  from  a  most  unpleasant  position,  at- 
tended with  great  danger  of  a  serious  scandal,  and 
for  weeks  and  months,  you  would  not  say  that  one 
word.  Hence  I  was  very  uneasy.  I  pondered 
and  pondered  over  what  I  should  do ;  I  could  not 
write  to  you,  as  you  will  easily  understand.  If  I 
wrote  to  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam,  all  the  chances 
were  that  your  staying  in  his  diocese  would  be 
impossible ;  so  I  wrote  to  Doctor,  now  Cardinal 


2i6  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

McCabe,  and  to  Dr.  Leahy.  The  former  was  a 
prudent,  reticent  man,  and  kind-hearted.  I  urged 
him  to  break  this  matter  to  the  Archbishop  of 
Tuam,  at  the  same  time  urging  him  to  advise 
Tuam  (sic)  to  settle  the  matter  quietly  with  Dr. 
Leahy,  and  to  receive  you.  I  said  that  you  would 
be  sure  to  make  the  collection  for  building  and 
founding  Knock  a  real  success.  You  know  the 
rest.  I  am,  dear  sister,  faithfully  yours, 

"fA.  HIGGINS." 

As  to  the  "  all  in  writing "  business,  Bishop 
Higgins  himself  did  not  do  any  writing  when  I 
was  transferred  to  Newry  diocese,  so  his  zeal  on 
that  point  reflects  on  himself. 

Now,  although  I  shall  return  to  this  letter  in 
the  next  chapter,  as  it  is  so  important  a  document 
for  me,  I  shall  say  a  word  here  :  — 

First.  Bishop  Higgins  talks  of  an  oversight. 
There  was  no  oversight  except  what  he  made  him- 
self. I  wrote  at  once  to  the  Bishop  of  Dromore 
(Newry)  when  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam  arranged 
for  me  to  make  the  Knock  foundation,  and  all  was 
arranged  with  him,  according  to  the  strictest  re- 
quirements of  canon  law,  in  three  weeks. 

Second.  Probably,  Bishop  Higgins  did  not  know 
this,  but  whether  I  did  this  or  not,  or  whether  he 
knew  it  or  not,  he  had  no  right  to  interfere,  and  if 
he  had  practised  the  humility  he  expressed  (page 
224),  all  this  trouble  would  have  been  saved. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

WAITING  FOR  PERMISSION   TO  RETURN   TO  TUAM. 

Abandoned  by  my  Friends  —  Miss  O'Hagan's  Relatives  Desert  me  — 
A  Gleam  of  Sunshine  —  I  Seek  Refuge  —  A  Grateful  Cabman  —  A 
Serious  Difficulty  —  I  Write  to  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam  —  A  Forged 
Despatch — Duplicity  of  the  Kenmare  Sisters — Bishop  Higgins's 
Vacillations  —  Contrasted  Extracts  from  his  Letters. 

THERE  was  one  circumstance  which  added 
greatly  to  the  trouble  of  mind  which  I  suffered 
in  Dublin  when  Cardinal  McCabe  put  me  out 
on  the  streets.  The  peculiar  circumstances  of  my 
case,  it  will  be  remembered,  left  me  in  a  very 
friendless  condition  ;  no  immigrant  landed  alone  on 
a  foreign  shore  was  ever  more  desolate  and  help- 
less. The  few  who  would  have  befriended  me  did 
not  know  my  trouble  ;  others  who  ought  to  have 
helped  me  were  too  much  afraid  to  do  so.  But 
there  were  relatives  of  Miss  O'Hagan  then  in 
Dublin  who  could  have  helped  me,  if  they  had 
chosen,  without  the  least  fear  of  consequences  to 
themselves,  and  they  would  not  do  it.  They  knew 
well  all  I  had  done  for  her,  and  if  they  had  had 
one  spark  of  good  feeling  they  should  have  come 
to  the  rescue  now.  I  do  not  like  to  say  all  I 
could  about  what  I  was  able  to  do  for  the  Ken- 
217 


2i8  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

mare  convent  and  sisters  ;  I  know  that  those  who 
do  the  most  for  God  are  but  instruments  whom 
he  chooses  to  do  his  work  ;  but  since  he  does  so 
choose  us,  we  may  not  deny  his  choice,  or  the 
good  done  by  His  permission.  In  Kenmare,  there 
were  no  large  funds  belonging  to  the  convent 
which  could  be  used  as  there  were  in  Newry  for 
any  purpose.  In  Newry  there  were  some  quite 
wealthy  merchants  who  were  always  ready  to  help 
the  sisters  generously. 

In  Kenmare  there  was  no  one.  There  every 
thing  had  to  be  done  for  the  people  ;  we  could  not 
have  a  fair,  for  there  was  no  one  to  come  to  it. 
We  might  have  sold  a  few  lottery  tickets,  but  that 
was  all.  If,  then,  I  had  not  been  able  to  help,  and 
to  help  very  largely,  by  the  money  earned  by  the 
sale  of  my  books,  poor  Miss  O'Hagan  would  have 
found  herself,  in  very  great  difficulties,  and  could 
have  hardly  supported  the  convent  or  done  any- 
thing for  the  poor.  Besides,  the  Kenmare  con- 
vent would  have  been  unknown  except  to  tourists, 
who  might  have  bought  a  few  yards  of  lace.  But 
the  extraordinarily  large  circulation  of  my  books 
made  the  name  of  Kenmare  known  all  over  the 
world,  as  the  reviews  at  the  end  of  this  book  will 
show.  Hence  my  writings  benefited  the  convent 
in  more  ways  than  one,  as  they  were  the  means  of 
bringing  very  large  donations  and  even  legacies  to 


A    GLEAM   OF  SUNSHINE. 


219 


me.  Miss  O'Hagan's  friends  knew  this  well ; 
they  knew  well  how  many  an  anxious  hour  I  had 
saved  her.  Lord  O'Hagan  was  poor ;  he  had  no 
private  property,  and  needed  all  he  got  as  a  gov- 
ernment official  to  support  his  family. 

Still  he  had  great  influence  and  moved  in  the 
highest  circles  of  Dublin  society,  and  his  daugh- 
ter, who  lived  there,  was  well  known  to  Cardinal 
McCabe,  who  dared  not  have  refused  her  an  inter- 
view had  she  asked  one  ;  she  not  only  refused  to 
help  me  in  any  way,  but  she  actually  spoke  of  my 
leaving  Kenmare  as  if  it  had  been  a  crime,  and 
helped  to  excite  feeling  against  me  amongst  her 
friends  in  Dublin.  I  knew  her  mind  had  been 
poisoned  against  me,  and  by  whom.  But  her  con- 
duct in  so  readily  believing  evil  of  me  was  not  the 
least  of  my  many  trials. 

I  had  one  little  gleam  of  sunshine  in  this  dark 
hour.  As  soon  as  it  was  daylight,  I  started  to 
obey  the  orders  of  Cardinal  McCabe  and  leave 
Harold's  Cross  Convent. 

I  had  spent  the  night  thinking  where  I  could  go 
safely  and  quietly,  and  decided  to  take  temporary 

shelter  with  a  Mr.  M n  at  whose  house  I 

knew  sisters  often  stopped  when  passing  through 
Dublin,  and  whom  I  had  employed  for  some 
years  as  an  agent  for  the  sale  of  my  books. 

He  was  astonished  at  my  arrival,  but  so  fearful 


220  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

was  I  of  public  scandal,  or  of  exciting  feeling 
against  Cardinal  McCabe,  that  I  did  not  tell  even 
him  why  I  had  come  to  his  house.  He  received 
me  most  kindly  and  proceeded  at  once  to  do  all 
that  he  could  for  me. 

When  I  went  to  pay  the  driver  who  brought  me 
to  his  house,  he  asked  me  was  I  "the  Nun  of 
Kenmare,  the  good  sister  who  had  saved  so  many 
people  from  famine  ? "  I  replied  sadly  enough  that 
I  was.  "And  do  you  think  I  would  be  mane 
enough  to  take  money  from  you  that  kept  the  life 
in  the  Irish  people  and  children  ? "  And  he  drove 
off  in  all  haste,  to  show  his  determination  not  to 
be  paid. 

I  now  had  to  consider  carefully  what  I  should 
do.  I  knew  that,  according  to  the  canonical  law 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  all  the  bishops 
concerned  had  made  very  grave  mistakes.  I  be- 
longed canonically  to  the  Tuam  diocese  by  the 
archbishop's  own  request.  Still  I  made  another 
effort  to  set  myself  right  quietly,  and  wrote  to  a 
priest  in  Dublin,  a  near  relative  of  the  late 
Bishop  McCarthy,  who  had  been  my  great  friend, 
asking  him  to  go  to  the  cardinal  and  beg  that 
he  would  even  look  at  my  authorization,  but  he, 
also,  dared  not  interfere.  I  wrote  also  to  the 
Archbishop  of  Tuam,  reminding  him  that  he  had 
sent  me  for  a  certain  document,  that  I  had  got  the 


A   FOKGED  DESPATCH.  22l 

document  and  sent  him  a  copy  of  it.  I  received 
an  evasive  reply,  and  found  myself  still  in  the 
same  position.  I  knew  that  if  I  forced  myself  on 
him  when  he  was  so  prejudiced  against  me,  from 
whatever  cause,  my  doom  was  sealed.  Yet  what 
was  I  to  do  unless  I  gave  up  the  religious  life  alto- 
gether !  I  had  then  no  resource  but  to  compel  the 
archbishop  to  do  me  justice.  I  wrote  to  him  in 
reply,  that  as  I  belonged  by  his  own  act,  and  of 
his  free  will  to  his  diocese,  I  could  not  go  else- 
where, that  there  was  but  one  course  for  me,  to 
go  to  Rome  and  ask  there  what  I  was  to  do.  This 
brought  a  reply  from  him  to  say  he  "  supposed 
that  I  could  go  to  Knock."  Later,  when  I  showed 
this  letter  to  some  priests,  they  were  greatly 
amused  at  it,  but  it  certainly  was  very  sad  to  me. 

I  now  began  to  get  some  light  as  to  the  source 
of  this  persecution.  During  the  few  days  that  I 

stayed  at  Mr.  M n's,  a  despatch  was  handed  to 

me  by  the  servant,  which  was  addressed  to  him. 
The  girl  said  "  I  suppose  this  is  for  you  ; "  without 
mentioning  the  name.  I  opened  it  without  notic- 
ing the  address,  supposing  it  was  for  myself,  and 

read  the  contents.  It  was  from  Mrs.  D ,  the 

mother  of  the  young  lady  who  was  with  me,  and 
who  as  I  have  said,  has  been  for  many  years  my 
private  secretary  and  dear  friend. 

The  object  was  to  try  and  induce  her  to  leave 


222  THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

me,  and  to  make  Mr.  M n  mistrust  me.     The 

more  I  reflected  on  the  matter  the  more  strange 

it  seemed  to  me.     Mrs.  D had  always  wished 

her  daughter  to  be  with  me.  The  answer,  it  was 
said,  was  to  be  sent  to  the  Convent  Kenmare,  and 
this  perplexed  me  also.  I  thought  it  very  unlikely 

that  Mrs.  D would  have  sent  such  a  despatch, 

and  it  was  still  more  unlikely  that  she  should  have 
asked  to  have  the  reply  addressed  to  the  convent 
instead  of  her  own  house,  for  neither  she  nor  her 
family  had  been  in  favor  with  the  sisters. 

I  began  to  suspect  what  I  found  soon  after  was 
the  truth.  Mrs.  D knew  nothing  of  the  tele- 
gram. She  had  not  authorized  its  despatch,  either 
directly  or  indirectly,  and  was  indignant  when  she 
heard  the  use  that  was  made  of  her  name  by  the 
sisters.  It  was  to  this  despatch  that  I  alluded, 

when  I  said  I  had  reason  to  know  that  the  Ken- 

» 

mare  sisters  kept  a  close  watch  on  all  my  move- 
ments. 

All  kinds  of  wild  rumors  now  began  to  fly 
around.  I  heard  from  both  friends  and  foes  what 
things  were  said,  and  where  they  had  originated. 
It  was  said  that  I  had  gone  to  a  public  hotel  in 
Dublin,  that  I  had  gone  to  an  obscure  and  low 
hotel,  that  I  had  gone  out  of  my  mind,  that  I  had 
quarrelled  with  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam,  and  I 
know  not  what  else ;  and  a  paragraph  was  put  in 


BISHOP  HIGGINS  "PONDERS." 


223 


one  of  the  Dublin  newspapers  that  Bishop  Higgins 
asked  me  to  sign  a  paper  saying  that  I  would  give 
up  all  political  writing ;  the  fact  being  that  Bishop 
Higgins  had  never  even  suggested  such  a  thing. 
But  plainly  the  whole  trouble  was  caused  by  him, 
as  his  own  letters  show,  and  it  is  difficult  to  under- 
stand what  motive  he  could  have  had,  or  why 
he  should  have  made  such  contradictory  state- 
ments. 

The  whole  matter  was  a  mystery  to  me,  as  well 
as  Bishop  Higgins's  talk  about  all  this  "  ponder- 
ing," and  why  he  should  have  written  to  me  of 
his  "pondering"  occupying  "weeks  and  months," 
when  it  was  actually  only  a  few  days,  or  declared 
his  inability  to  write  to  me  at  the  very  time  when 
he  did  write  to  me  and  that  more  than  once. 

If  I  have  dwelt  at  some  length  on  this  point,  I 
have  done  so  only  from  the  necessity  of  the  case, 
because  all  the  trouble  which  I  have  had,  dates 
from  the  interference  of  Bishop  Higgins,  and  the 
result,  that  I  was  put  out  on  the  streets  of  Dublin 
on  a  false  charge  by  Cardinal  McCabe,  through  his 
uncanonical  and  uncalled  for  interference  in  what 
was  no  affair  of  his,  in  whatever  light  my  case  is 
considered.  During  this  fortnight  between  the 
third  and  thirteenth  of  December,  Bishop  Hig- 
gin's  mind  must  have  been  in  a  very  disturbed 
state.  The  following  extracts  will  show  this. 


224  THE  NlJN  OF  KENMARE. 

December  8,  1881,  he  wrote  to  me, — 

"  You  have  passed  from  my  jurisdiction,  and  I 
have  no  authority  to  direct  or  control  your  action." 

In  his  letter  to  me  of  April  i,  1882,  he  says, — 

"  I  pondered  and  pondered  over  what  I  should 
do — so  I  wrote  to  Dublin  to  Doctor,  now  Cardi- 
nal, McCabe  ;  I  urged  him  to  break  this  matter  to 
the  Archbishop  of  Tuam." 

In  a  letter,  dated  December  15,  1881,  he  says 
again, — 

"  You  have  passed  from  my  jurisdiction  —  I 
have  no  desire  to  obtrude  advice  on  you  —  you 
would  not  have  me  of  my  own  accord  to  obtrude 
my  views  upon  two  such  people  as  Archbishop 
McEvilly  and  Dr.  Leahy." 

In  a  letter  of  April  I,  1882,  he  says,  — 

"  I  urged  him  (Cardinal  McCabe)  to  advise 
Tuam  (sic)  to  settle  the  matter  quietly  with  Dr. 
Leahy,  and  to  receive  you." 

Now  there  was  nothing  to  settle  except  poor 
Bishop  Higgins's  own  mind,  and  why  Archbishop 
McEvilly  should  have  been  advised  by  any  one  to 
"  receive  me "  when  he  had  received  me,  or  to 
settle  matters  quietly  when  all  was  settled,  until 
Bishop  Higgins  himself  set  to  work  to  unsettle  it, 


WHO    TOLD   ARCHBISHOP  CROKR  ? 


225 


is    a    mystery  which    Bishop    Higgins    alone   caa 
solve. 

On  the  ist  of  October,  1882,  I  received  a  letter 
from  Archbishop  Croke,  in  which  he  says,  — 

"I  think  it  would  do  no  harm  to  publish  a  short 
account  of  your  departure  from  Kenmare  Convent, 
showing  clearly,  as  you  can  do  by  documentary 
evidence,  that  you  had  full  leave  and  license  to 
leave  Kenmare  and  go  to  Knock,  and  thence  to 
Newry,  and  finally  to  settle  in  Knock,  with  a  view 
to  the  erection  there  of  a  convent  of  your  order. 
Dr.  McCabe  had  been  told  that  you  had  no  leave 
to  quit  Kenmare  ;  this  I  know.  Hence,  I  sup- 
pose, the  eviction." 

Who  told  this  to  Cardinal  McCabe.  Bishop 
Higgins  says  in  his  ist  of  April  letter,  that  he 
wrote  to  him,  and  if  he  did  not  say  what  he  knew 
to  be  false,  he  must  have  gone  within  measurable 
distance  of  doing  it. 

A  number  of  letters  will  be  found  in  the  appen- 
dix to  this  work  which  will  show  that  I  was  not 
without  the  sympathy  of  some  good  priests  in  this 
trouble ;  but  very  many  of  the  charges  which 
Bishop  Higgins  made  against  me  to  Cardinal 
McCabe  have  been  wilfully  credited  by  many 
bishops  to  this  day. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

DEPRIVED  OF  THE  SACRAMENTS  WITHOUT  CAUSE. 

Permitted  to  Return  to  Knock  —  Unjust  Treatment  by  Archbishop  Mc- 
Evilly  —  Ingratitude  of  a  Sister  —  Commissioned  to  Hunt  me  Down 

—  A  Hard  Winter  —  A  Sad  Christmas  —  Forbidden  the  Sacraments 

—  Archdeacon  Cavanagh  Dares  not  Confess  me  —  I  Appeal  to  Bishop 
Leahy  —  His    Response  —  Archbishop    McEvilly    Consents    "For 
Once,"  and  Sends  me  to  Claremorris  —  A  Little  Consolation. 

I  RETURNED  to  Knock  the  day  after  I  received 
Archbishop  McEvilly's  permission  to  do  so.  I 
would  have  gone  the  same  day  if  I  could.  But  I 
was  indeed  in  a  most  painful  position.  Any  priest 
will  know  that  I  belonged  lawfully  and  with  all 
due  canonical  form  to  the  diocese  of  Tuam,  and  if 
Archbishop  McEvilly  had  the  courage  of  his  opin- 
ions he  should  have  allowed  me  to  return  at  once 
to  Tuam  Convent  until  arrangements  could  have 
been  made  for  beginning  the  work  which  he  had 
authorized  me  to  do.  Such  a  proceeding  would 
have  been  simple  and  honorable,  and  would  have 
even  saved  himself  a  world  of  trouble.  But  Arch- 
bishop McEvilly  knew  the  feeling  which  Cardinal 
McCabe  had  against  me. 

From  that  hour  until  I  left  the  diocese  of  Tuam, 
I  was  treated  by  Archbishop  McEvilly  exactly  as 

226 


AN  UNCHRISTIAN  SISTER. 


227 


if  I  had  done  the  evil  of  which  I  was  so  falsely 
accused,  and  as  if  I  had  "  left  my  convent,"  instead 
of  being  put  out  of  it  with  such  injustice. 

Rumors  were  circulated  everywhere,  and  be- 
lieved, though  they  were  of  the  most  absurd  char- 
acter. 

The  sister  of  one  of  the  Kenmare  sisters,  whom 
I  had  helped  for  years,  even  clothing  and  feeding 
her  children,  wrote  me  a  most  unchristian  letter, 
which  I  still  have,  which,  little  as  she  thought  it, 
gave  me  a  clue  to  the  source  of  my  trouble.  She 
said  she  "  had  been  commissioned  to  hunt  me 
down."  But  there  was  another  expression  in  her 
letter  which  later  on  I  understood  better.  It  was 
this  :  "  You  are  a  wicked  fool,  and  have  left  your 
sainted  order."  I  thought  but  little  of  these 
words  at  the  time,  because  the  poor  woman  was  as 
violent  as  she  was  illiterate,  but  she  kept  her 
word. 

Shortly  after  I  left  Kenmare  I  received  a  letter 
from  one  of  her  brothers,  imploring  me  to  lend  him 
some  money,  as  he  was  in  great  distress  ;  and  he 
said  he,  "JJid  not  fear  to  ask  me,  as  I  had  been  for 
so  many  years  the  generous  benefactor  of  his  fam- 
ily and  relatives." 

I  returned  to  Knock  just  before  Christmas  in 
1 88 1.  It  was  very  severe  weather,  such  as  rarely 
happens  in  Ireland  ;  and  in  that  country,  as  the 


228  THE  NUN  OF  KEN  MARE. 

people  are  unaccustomed  to  extreme  cold,  there  is 
no  preparation  to  meet  it,  and  the  suffering  it 
causes  is  all  the  more  intense. 

We  arrived  in  Ballyhaunis,  the  nearest  station 
to  the  village  of  Knock,  late  in  the  evening.  The 
windows  of  the  railway  carriage  had  been  thick 
with  ice,  and  we  had  been  well-nigh  frozen  to  our 
seats  on  the  way  from  Dublin.  At  Ballyhaunis, 
matters  were  far  worse.  The  only  conveyance  we 
could  get,  was  a  wretched  "  inside  car,"  the  cush- 
ions of  which  were  saturated  with  icy  water.  Nor 
was  there  any  more  comfort  at  Knock.  The  only 
place  of  shelter  I  could  find,  was  in  a  poor  thatched 
cottage,  where  as  a  great  luxury  I  got  a  little  bare 
closet,  which  just  held  a  bed  and  a  chair,  and  was 
lighted  by  a  window  only  a  foot  square. 

I  shall  never  forget  that  Christmas.  Arch- 
deacon Cavanagh  seemed  very  glad  to  see  me, 
and  I  had  a  very  warm  welcome  from  all  the 
people,  who  were  full  of  hope  as  to  what  I  might 
do  for  them.  They  were  all  at  the  Christmas 
merry-making  and  rejoicing,  as  the  poor  people 
will  do  in  Ireland,  but  for  me  there  was  not  even 
spiritual  consolation. 

After  all  I  had  suffered,  I  looked  to  have  the 
one  comfort  of  receiving  the  sacraments  of  the 
church,  but  even  this  was  denied  to  me.  When 
I  asked  Archdeacon  Cavanagh  to  hear  my  confes- 


THE  RULE    OF  CONFESSION. 


229 


sion,  he  refused,  and  said  it  would  not  be  prudent 
for  him  to  do  so  until  I  had  obtained  permission 
from  Archbishop  McEvilly. 

I  must  explain  here  a  rule  of  the  Catholic 
church,  which  is  not  generally  known  even 
amongst  Catholics.  The  bishop  of  every  diocese 
is  required  to  appoint  certain  priests  as  the  confes- 
sors of  the  nuns  or  sisters,*  and  no  other  priest 
can  hear  their  confessions,  nor  can  they  lawfully 
confess  to  any  other  priest.  Besides  this,  a  sec- 
ond priest  is  appointed,  who  comes  four  times 
in  each  year  to  hear  the  confessions  of  the  sis- 
ters, and  he  is  called  the  extraordinary  confessor. 
But  when  sisters  are  travelling  they  can  go  to 
any  priest,  and  any  priest  can  give  them  absolu- 
tion. 

In  my  case  it  was  obvious  that  either  rule  might 
apply,  and  Archdeacon  Cavanagh  knew  that  he 
could  have  admitted  me  to  the  sacraments  without 
any  special  permission  from  the  archbishop.  But 
he  had  an  object  in  view  and  a  wise  one.  He  said 
as  there  had  been  so  many  disputes,  the  more 
clearly  my  position  in  the  diocese  was  defined 
the  better, .and  that  I  must  write  and  ask  the 

*  The  word  nun  is  more  generally  used  in  Ireland.  In  Amer- 
ca  those  who  dedicate  themselves  to  the  religious  life  are  called 
sisters.  There  is,  however,  a  technical  difference.  The  term  nun 
is  properly  applied  to  those  who  make  a  vow  of  strict  religious  in- 
closure. 


230 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


archbishop  for  faculties  for  him  to  hear  my  con- 
fession. 

The  burden,  as  usual,  was  put  on  me,  but  it  was 
the  archdeacon's  duty  to  have  asked  for  these 
faculties  for  himself.  And  so  at  a  time  when  I 
most  needed  the  consolations  of  religion,  I  was  de- 
prived of  them.  It  was  a  curious  experience.  If 
the  teaching  of  the  Catholic  church  was  true, 
and  if  those  who  held  the  keys  of  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  believed  in  their  own  powers, 
surely  mine  was  a  special  case  for  the  exercise 
of  grace. 

Christmas  passed  ;  the  Feast  of  the  Circumcision 
passed  ;  the  Epiphany  passed,  and  still  I  was  re- 
fused the  sacraments  without  cause.  No  reason 
was  assigned,  but  some  of  Archbishop  McEvilly's 
own  priests,  told  me  that  he  hoped  to  make  me 
leave  his  diocese  of  my  own  accord,  so  that  another 
charge  could  be  brought  against  me,  and  I  could 
be  got  rid  of  this  way,  as  the  Dublin  plan  had 
failed,  without  its  appearing  to  have  been  done  by 
him.  The  truth  was,  that  none  of  the  bishops 
concerned  could  find  any  excuse,  or  even  fault  by 
which  they  would  have  been  justified  before  the 
public  in  sending  me  adrift  on  the  world.  There 
was  only  one  resource  left,  and  that  was  to  drive 
me  to  despair  in  order  that  I  might  commit  some 
deed  for  which  they  might  condemn  me.  But  by 


FORBIDDEN   THE  SACRAMENTS.  23! 

a  wonderful  mercy  of  God  I  was  kept  from  at  least 
this  form  of  desperation. 

The  archbishop  wrote  an  evasive  reply  in  the 
style  which  was  so  useful  to  him,  and  so  trying 
when  one  needed  an  explicit  answer.  It  was 
penned  in  the  style  of  his  decision  about  Knock, 
that  "as  at  present  advised,"  he  neither  believed 
nor  disbelieved  that  I  belonged  to  his  diocese, 
and  he  "  doubted  "  if  he  could  give  the  faculties 
to  any  priest  to  hear  my  confession.  In  fact  he 
doubted  everything,  when  it  was  inconvenient  to 
be  decided. 

I  wrote  to  Bishop  Leahy,  always  my  true  friend, 
telling  him  my  trouble  and  that  Bishop  McEvilly 
had  refused  me  the  sacraments.  And  here  I  may 
say,  that  I  have  often  wondered  how  it  was,  that 
knowing  as  they  did,  that  I  was  a  convert  to  the 
Roman  Catholic  faith,  they  were  not  afraid  of 
driving  me  in  disgust  or  despair  to  return  to  the 
religion  of  my  happier  days.  No  doubt  injustices 
are  practised  by  members  of  Protestant  churches, 
but  they  who  suffer  have  at  least,  the  protection  of 
the  strong  arm  of  the  law,  and  of  public  opinion. 
If  I  had  not  been  a  Roman  Catholic  sister  I  could 
have  taken  an  action  for  defamation  of  character 
or  libel  against  any  of  my  accusers.  As  a  Roman 
Catholic  sister  I  could  not  do  this,  no  matter  of 
what  I  might  be  accused.  Surely  when  the  higher 


232 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


ecclesiastical  powers  are  protected  on  every  side 
from  their  subjects,  they  should  use  no  ordinary 
justice,  not  to  say  mercy,  in  the  exercise  of  their 
irresponsible  power.* 

Bishop  Leahy's  reply  is  before  me  now.  He 
seemed  perplexed,  as  well  he  might  be.  He 
reminds  me  that  he  had  already  transferred  me 
canonically  to  the  diocese  of  Tuam,  and  asks, 
"  What  more  does  Archbishop  McEvilly  want  ? " 
Adding  with  infinite  goodness,  that  "if  the  arch- 
bishop would  draw  up  any  paper  which  he  consid- 
ered more  binding  or  regular,  he  would  at  once 
sign  it." 

I  sent  a  copy  of  that  letter  to  Archbishop  Mc- 
Evilly and  received  a  reply,  in  which  he  said  that 
he  had  granted  faculties  to  Archdeacon  Cavanagh 
to  hear  my  confession  for  once,  &n&  for  once  only, 
—  (the  italics  are  the  archbishop's).  That  I  was 
giving  great  scandal  by  remaining  at  Knock,  (it 

*  If  Roman  Catholics  are  denounced  or  excommunicated  for 
making  an  appeal  to  the  secular  power  for  justice,  the  church 
should  form  a  court  of  appeal,  the  judges  of  which  should  be, 
above  all,  free  from  suspicion  of  partiality.  But  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  church  the  bishop  is  judge,  jury,  and  executioner,  and  the 
unhappy  being  who  refuses  submission  to  an  injustice,  may  be  very 
sure  of  scant  shrift  at  a  second  appeal.  An  appeal  in  the  case  of 
a  priest  is  sometimes  allowed  to  the  archbishop's  council,  but  such 
an  appeal  is  a  mere  farce.  The  council  are  men  who  must  either 
agree  with  the  bishop  or  take  the  consequence.  They  generally 
agree  with  him. 


SENT  TO   CLAKEMORRIS. 


233 


will  be  remembered  that  he  had  sent  me  there 
himself,  and  that  I  went  in  obedience  to  his 
orders),  that  I  could  go  either  to  Claremorris 
Convent  or  to  Swinford,  and  that  my  staying 
in  Knock  was  much  talked  of  in  Dublin,  and 
would  not  tend  to  make  people  think  more  of  the 
Knock  devotion. 

The  convent  at  Claremorris  was  the  one  at 
which  I  had  rested  on  my  way  to  Knock,  when  I 
went  there  first  with  my  confessor  and  my  secre- 
tary. It  was  in  Archbishop  McEvilly's  diocese. 
The  convent  at  Swinford  was  not  in  the  arch- 
bishop's diocese,  and  I  could  not  understand  how 
Archbishop  McEvilly  could  have  asked  me  to  go 
to  a  convent  not  in  his  diocese,  at  the  very  time 
when  he  was  so  troubled  about  my  canonical 
position.  Like  Bishop  Higgins,  I  "pondered 
and  pondered,"  and  the  more  I  pondered  the 
less  I  knew.  The  extraordinary  confusion  which 
existed  in  Bishop  Higgins's  mind  appeared  in- 
fectious. 

I  asked  Archdeacon  Cavanagh  and  several  of 
Archbishop  McEvilly's  own  priests  what  they 
thought  of  this  offer,  and  they  unanimously  advised 
me  to  go  to  Claremorris.  I  myself  saw  at  once, 
that  if  I  went  to  Swinford  a  new  set  of  com- 
plications would  arise,  and  the  priests  seemed 
to  think  that  such  a  consummation  was  desired. 


234 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


Certainly,  everything  was  done  from  the  hour  I 
left  Ken  mare  until  I  passed  out  of  the  reach 
of  these  bishops  to  make  me  commit  myself  to 
some  act  that  could  be  condemned ;  and  as  it 
was  found  impossible  to  do  this,  the  only  means 
left  was  to  spread  calumnies  about  me  in  every 
direction. 

I  went  to  Claremorris  with  my  companion  as 
quickly  as  possible,  and  arranged  to  pay  the 
sisters  there  for  their  hospitality.  Here  I  had 
the  great  consolation  of  the  friendship  and  affec- 
tion of  the  Very  Rev.  Canon  Bourke,  so  well 
known  as  a  historical  writer  and  a  Celtic  scholar. 
He  was  the  parish  priest  of  Claremorris,  and  had 
been  one  of  my  correspondents  for  years.  I  fear, 
however,  his  friendship  for  me  was  a  source  of 
many  troubles  for  him.  Yet  he  was  far  too  just 
and  too  generous  to  consider  his  own  interests 
when  he  could  defend  or  comfort  me. 

On  the  sad  Christmas  day  when  I  was  deprived 
of  the  spiritual  graces  which  were  granted  to 
even  the  most  wretched  prisoners  or  criminals, 
Canon  Bourke  drove  over  to  Knock  to  see  and 
cheer  me. 

Later  I  received  the  following  letter  from  my 
confessor,  the  Rev.  M.  Neligan,  C.  C.,  of  Ken- 
mare,  who  travelled  with  myself  and  my'Secretary, 
Miss  Downing. 


LETTER  FROM  FATHER   NELIGAN. 


235 


THE  PRESBYTERY,  KENMARE,  March,  9,  1882. 
"MY     VERY     DEAR     SlSTER      F.      CLARE,  Your 

letter  of  this  morning  simply  astounds  me.  The 
calumny  that  you  left  Kenmare  without  the  proper 
permission  from  your  superiors  is  too  absurd. 
Don't  mind ;  patience  and  resignation  will  right 
things. 

"I  accompanied  you  at  the  request  of  the 
mother  abbess  here,  and  with  the  sanction  of 
the  bishop,  then  vicar-cap. 

"  When  we  arrived  at  Knock,  Archdeacon  Cav- 
anagh  was  so  enthusiastic  about  your  foundation 
there,  that  I  thought  it  quite  unnecessary  to  re- 
main longer  than  the  few  days  I  did. 

"  As  well  as  I  remember,  the  Archbishop  of 
Tuam  expressed  himself  similarly  by  letter  to  you. 
You  wrote  to  me  afterwards,  saying  his  grace's 
interview  at  Tuam  tended  to  the  same  result. 
Hence,  things  being  so,  I  am  simply  bewildered  at 
its  being  even  mooted  that  you  left  Kenmare 
without  the  necessary  permission.  I  repeat  again, 
you  had  the  fullest  sanction,  and  that  from  your 
superiors,  to  leave. 

"  You  have  now  thrown  yourself  into  the  good 
cause  at  Knock,  and  that,  together  with  your 
many  years  of  most  valuable  service  here,  and 
particularly  your  splendid  and-  successful  efforts 
during  the  late  famine  years,  will  soon  put  an  end 
to  these  false  reports. 


336  THE  NUN  OF  XENMARE. 

"  Sincerely  wishing  you  health  and  success  in 
the  cause  of  God  and  our  country,  in  which  you 
have  always  labored  so  hard  and  unselfishly, 
"My  very  dear  Sister  F.  C, 
"  Yours  as  ever, 

"  M.  NELIGAN,  C.  C." 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

CLAREMORRIS. 

I  Move  to  Claremorris  —  Plans  for  the  Endowment  at  Knock  —  Girls  to 
be  Taught  Household  Industries  —  State  of  Ireland — Absence  of 
Industrial  Employment  —  Theoretical  Training  Useless  —  Methods 
of  the  Training  Houses — Houses  to  be  Self-Supporting  —  Cordial 
Letter  from  John  Kelly  —  Industries  Practised  —  The  Kindergarten 
—  Archbishop  McEvilly's  Requirements — Father  Cavanagh  Afraid 
of  the  Archbishop  —  Different  Orders  of  the  Church  —  Idea  of  a  New 
Order. 

As  soon  as  I  had  the  archbishop's  permission,  I 
moved  from  Knock  to  Claremorris.  I  had  many 
inconveniences  to  suffer  there,  though  the  sisters 
were  not  unkind  to  me.  I  continued  active  and 
successful,  collecting  the  funds  required  by  the 
archbishop  for  the  building  endowment  of  the 
convent  of  Knock. 

It  may  be  well  here  to  say  something  of  the 
plan  I  had  in  view.  I  had  long  seen  that  indus- 
trial employment  was  the  great  need  of  the  Irish 
people.  They  had  been  living  for  centuries  in  a 
state  of  chronic  starvation,  principally  because 
they  depended  exclusively  on  the  potato  plant  for 
food,  and  the  pig  for  rent ;  nor  were  the  Irish 
people  by  any  means  to  blame  for  this  state  of 
affairs.  It  is  a  matter  of  history  that  the  English 
237 


238  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

nation  broke  up  every  attempt  at  trade  or  manu- 
facturing, and  we  all  know  that  when  manufactu- 
ries  are  once  destroyed,  it  is  no  easy  matter  to  re- 
store them  or  revivify  decayed  industries.  I  had  not 
the  capital  to  commence  manufactures  on  a  large 
scale,  but  I  have  always  believed  in  small  begin- 
nings ;  for  some,  at  least,  come  to  great  ends.  I 
knew  that  it  would  not  be  possible  for  me  to  do 
anything  for  the  men,  but  I  saw  it  would  be  quite 
possible  to  do  a  great  deal  for  the  women,  if  I 
could  get  the  necessary  episcopal  permission  (the 
"  if "  certainly  was  an  important  factor  in  the 
case).  But  I  had  every  reason  to  hope  for  suc- 
cess, as  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam  had  said  in  his 
letter  of  authorization,  that  the  idea  I  had  was 
"admirable  and  was  worthy  of  a  religious  soul, 
and  I  am  sure  it  is  one  that  must  commend  itself 
to  every  one  that  has  the  salvation  of  souls  at 
heart." 

My  plans  were  very  simple,  and  did  not  require 
much  money  to  carry  them  out.  How  they  were 
approved  by  the  late  Mr.  John  Kelly  of  New  York, 
his  letter  quoted  at  the  end  of  this  chapter  will 
show.  He  was  an  eminently  practical  man. 

I  wished  to  teach  girls  how  to  avail  themselves 
of  the  great  benefits,  social,  and,  we  may  even  say, 
religious,  which  will  certainly  follow  the  practice 
of  practical  home  industry.  To  teach  them  to  oc- 


PLANS  FOR    THE    GIRLS. 


239 


cupy  every  moment  in  some  way  that  will  be  both 
useful  and  remunerative ;  to  teach  each  what, each 
has  most  aptitude  for  doing,  whether  as  teacher, 
or  lace-worker,  or  knitter,  or  domestic  servant ;  to 
teach  them  how  to  make  their  poor  homes  more 
comfortable  for  their  fathers  and  their  brothers, 
by  practising  simple  industries,  by  keeping  bees, 
by  rearing  fowl,  by  saving  their  eggs  properly,  by 
making  their  butter  so  that  it  will  command  a  high 
price,  by  knitting  stockings  in  odd  spare  moments  ; 
to  teach  them  to  win  their  households — for  these 
girls  will,  most  of  them,  one  day  be  wives  and 
mothers  —  from  drunkenness.  For  though  it  is 
said  that  drunkenness  is  the  cause  of  poverty,  I 
believe  the  reverse  is  rather  the  true  state  of  the 
case,  and  that  poverty  is  the  cause  of  at  least  a 
great  deal  of  the  drunkenness. 

And  this  is  what  I  had  actually  begun  to  do  at 
Knock.  I  tried  to  interest  the  Kenmare  sisters 
in  plans  of  this  kind,  but  without  success  ;  and,  as 
I  have  said,  the  sisters  there  were  not  of  the  class 
who  take  a  large  view  of  such  subjects. 

I  well  remember  the  indignation  of  a  gentleman 
who  came  to  Kenmare,  hoping  some  practical  in- 
dustrial trade  would  have  been  established  there, 
and  who  turned  to  me  expecting  that  I  would  ex- 
press my  opinion  in  his  favor ;  but  my  opinion 
there  would  only  have  injured  his  cause. 


240 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


Only  those  who  are  familiar  with  the  state  of  the 
poor  in  Ireland,  not  by  a  mere  run  through  the 
country,  but  by  a  residence  there,  can  have  any 
idea  of  the  condition  of  the  poorer  classes. 

In  Mayo  and  the  west,  in  the  summer,  you  see 
droves  of  men,  for  I  cannot  otherwise  call  them, 
standing  at  each  wayside  depot,  with  their  little 
all  of  clothing  in  a  bundle  on  a  stick  thrown  over 
their  shoulders,  on  their  way  to  England  to  earn 
the  rent ;  and  earn  it  they  certainly  do  in  the 
sweat  of  their  brow.  How  much  of  this  same 
rent  is  earned  in  England,  and  how  much  more  in 
America  ?  It  would  be  an  interesting  fact  for  the 
political  economist  if  the  sum  total  could  be  ascer- 
tained. It  is  a  fact,  however,  that  but  for  these 
sources  of  income,  neither  coercion  nor  persuasion 
could  obtain  this  money,  and  there  would  be  no 
way  by  which  the  tenant  could  procure  it. 

The  entire  absence  of  industrial  employment  for 
the  women,  with  the  exception  of  a  little  butter 
making  in  the  south  and  a  little  flax  culture  in 
the  north,  is  the  fruitful  cause  of  Irish  poverty  and 
Irish  discontent. 

The  peace  of  the  family  and  the  prosperity  of 
the  family  depend  upon  domestic  life.  Families 
are  the  units  of  nations.  If  you  have  peace  and 
prosperity  in  the  family,  you  have  it  in  the  nation. 
The  subject  is  as  vast  as  it  is  important,  but  I 


THE  SPHERE    OF   WOMAN'S    WOKK. 


241 


refrain  from  entering  on  it.  A  great  deal  of  the 
political  disturbance  of  the  present  day  arises  from 
the  social  condition  of  the  so-called  lower  classes. 
I  have  no  Utopian  scheme  for  making  millionaires 
of  poor  men.  I  have  a  long  formed,  very  ardent 
desire  to  train  the  children  of  the  poor  for  domestic 
life  in  a  practical  way,  and  I  believe  that  if  my 
plan  was  carried  out  carefully  and  extensively  that 
it  would  do  very  much  to  make  the  houses  of  the 
poor  more  comfortable,  and,  as  a  necessary  conse- 
quence, to  make  the  masses  of  the  population  more 
contented.  A  great  deal  of  the  education  of  the 
present  day  is,  I  believe,  an  honest  and  generous 
effort  in  the  wrong  direction.  There  are  many 
men  of  large  minds  and  great  hearts,  who  feel 
deeply  for  the  social  condition  of  the  poor  and  mid- 
dle classes.  Naturally  they  suppose  that  the 
higher  the  education,  the  greater  the  social  com- 
fort. I  respect  the  benevolent  intentions  of  these 
gentlemen  none  the  less  because  I  know  that  their 
theory  will  not  work.  If  you  teach  a  girl  all  the 
known  sciences,  it  will  not  necessarily  teach  her  to 
earn  her  living  or  to  make  her  home  happy.  Fur- 
ther, as  the  sphere  of  woman's  work  advances  in 
the  middle  classes,  and  as  she  enters  more  and 
more  into  the  duties  and  offices  hitherto  held  by 
men,  the  necessity, becomes  greater  that  those  who 
dp.  .the, --domestic  work  .of  the  ,  household  should 


242 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE'. 


be  specially  and  carefully  trained  for  that  special 
purpose. 

Theoretical  training  is  useless.  I  propose  to 
train  girls  in  a  practical  way  for  domestic  life,  so 
that  any  girls  so  trained  will  be,  I  hope,  equally  fit 
for  domestic  service  and  for  married  life.  I  be- 
lieve the  great  oversight  in  all  training  for  girls 
has  been  that  people  do  not  realize  the  fact  that 
the  girl  of  to-day  is  taught  carefully  everything 
except  what  will  make  her  fit  to  be  a  good  wife 
and  a  good  mother. 

The  difference  between  the  training  which  I 
propose,  and  that  of  other  institutions  where  girls 
or  young  women  are  prepared  for  service  is  this  — 
girls  would  be  trained,  as  far  as  possible,  to  act 
precisely  as  they  would  in  a  private  family,  instead 
of  being  trained,  as  they  are  in  public  institutions. 

The  inmates  of  each  training  house  would  be 
divided  into  groups  or  families  of  ten  or  twelve. 
Each  group  should  have  their  own  table,  their  own 
bedrooms,  and  separate  places  for  cooking  in  the 
general  kitchen.  The  object  of  thus  dividing  the 
girls  is  obvious.  Each  would  learn  the  domestic 
duty  for  which  she  is  most  suited  ;  one  should  act, 
for  example,  as  cook  for  her  group,  and  would 
thus  learn  how  to  cook,  keep  accounts,  and  provide 
for  a  small  family.  Another  should  have  charge  of 
the  linen  and  needlework  for  her  group ;  another 


METHODS  OF  TRAINING   GIRLS. 


243 


should  have  charge  of  the  washing.  Thus  each 
girl  would  be  carefully  trained  for  a  certain  work, 
or  for  several  kinds  of  domestic  work.  As  all  this 
would  be  carried  out  under  an  experienced  super- 
visor, who  should  have  charge  of  the  group  or 
family,  the  girls'  training  would  prepare  them 
practically  for  the  occupations  they  are  likely  to 
have  in  their  future  life,  whether  in  the  service  of 
others  or  in  their  own  homes.  Every  girl  in  each 
group  would  be  taught  in  turn  to  purchase  the 
food  or  clothing  necessary  for  the  little  family 
group  to  which  she  belonged.  Thus  a  great  object 
would  be  attained.  It  is  well  known  that  girls 
who  have  been  trained  in  large  institutions  are 
often  useless  when  they  return  to  their  own  hum- 
ble homes,  or  when  they  are  engaged  as  servants 
in  private  families.  The  cause  of  this  is  obvious  ; 
everything  has  been  provided  for  them,  everything 
has  been  arranged  for  them  ;  they  have  had  no 
personal  responsibility,  and  when  they  are  brought 
face  to  face  with  this  responsibility  they  do  not 
know  how  to  act. 

Girls  who  are  trained  in  large  institutions  find 
everything  ready  to  their  hands,  and  are,  as  a  rule, 
all  employed  in  one  kind  of  labor  ;  they  are  rarely 
occupied  or  taught  the  various  minor  details  of 
household  duty,  which  are  so  necessary  to  be 
practised  by  a  good  servant,  and  which  are  equally 


244 


THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


important  for  the  peace  and  comfort  of  families 
where  they  are  employed.  Hence  the  necessity  of 
having  what  may  be  called  family  training.  Those 
girls  who  were  to  be  trained  for  nurses  would  have 
special  opportunities  for  learning  their  duties  by 
being  given  the  sole  charge  of  two  or  three  very 
young  children.  I  also  proposed,  where  such 
works  might  be  desirable,  and  in  places  where  they 
were  a  necessity,  to  have  houses  for  friendless 
girls  who  are  engaged  in  factories  and  other  public 
works,  and  who  are  often  exposed  to  most  terrible 
danger.  These  houses  may  be  made  at  least 
partly,  if  not  altogether,  self-supporting  ;  as  girls 
who  had  regular  employment  should  pay  a  certain 
small  fixed  sum  for  their  board  and  lodging. 
These  houses  should  be  under  the  charge  of  a  trust- 
worthy matron,  engaged  by  the  sisters,  and  would 
be  constantly  and  closely  superintended  by  them. 
Every  effort  should  be  made  to  make  these  houses 
cheerful  and  attractive  for  girls.  Girls  preparing 
to  emigrate  would  also  be  received  for  particular 
training.  This  is  another  duty  of  great  import- 
ance, because  so  many  girls  are  placed  in  circum- 
stances of  serious  temptation  (to  which  too  often 
many  are  found  to  yield),  when  they  arrive  in 
foreign  countries  without  any  previous  training  or 
preparation  for  the  duties  they.nijay  be  required  to 
undertake. 


LETTER   FROM  HON.  JOHN  KELLY,          345 

The  following  letter  from  the  late  Hon.  John 
Kelly  of  New  York  will  show  how  heartily  he 
entered  into  my  views.  He  was  indeed  the  great- 
est benefactor  I  had,  and  his  death  was  an  irrepa- 
rable loss.  Had  he  lived,  I  should  not  have  needed 
a  protector,  and  his  political  influence  would  have 
been  a  power  which  even  the  Archbishop  of  New 
York  must  have  respected. 

"  No.  20  PARK  Row,  NEW  YORK,  June  16,  1882. 

"  MY  DEAR  SISTER,  —  The  noble  work  you  have 
undertaken  in  behalf  of  the  poor  people  of  Kerry 
is  well  known  in  the  United  States,  and  now  that 
you  propose  to  extend  your  labors  to  another 
locality,  where  poverty  is  equally  as  great,  you 
ought  to  receive  the  encouragement  of  the  Irish 
people  and  their  descendants  in  this  country,  with- 
out regard  to  religious  opinions. 

"  Your  labors  are  not  confined  to  sects.  As  I 
understand  it,  you  treat  all  alike  ;  it  being  imma- 
terial to  you  what  their  religion  may  be,  if  they  are 
in  want. 

"  The  Irish  immigration  to  this  country  will  not 
bear  comparison  as  in  former  years  with  other 
nations,  and  I  presume  this  is  owing  to  the  want 
of  means  of  the  peasantry  to  reach  this  country. 
For  many  years  the  Irish  immigration  predomi- 
nated, but  latterly  the  largest  percentage  of  immi- 
gration is  from  Germany.  In  this,  as  well  as  last 
year,  the  Italians  have  immigrated  in  large  num- 


246  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

bers,  and  if  they  continue  until  the  end  of  the 
present  year  as  they  have  since  the  beginning, 
they  will  exceed  all  other  nationalities. 

"  While  it  would  gladden  your  heart  to  see  these 
people  endeavoring  to  make  their  way  through  our 
streets,  with  the  intention  of  leaving'  the  city  as 
soon  as  they  find  employment  elsewhere,  you 
would  pity  them  on  account  of  their  scanty  house- 
hold furniture,  and -the  little  clothing  they  bring 
with  them. 

"  It  is  very  unfortunate  that  some  provision  has 
not  been  made  by  European  governments  to  aid 
these  people  to  leave  the  countries  where  they  are 
ekeing  out  a  miserable  existence.  As  a  matter  of 
political  economy,  the  government  would  be  bene- 
fited. 

"  You  are  pursuing  the  methods  which  will  be 
exceedingly  beneficial  to  those  who  are  living  in  a 
state  of  ignorance,  by  teaching  them  industrial 
pursuits,  and  adding  to  their  knowledge  by  pre- 
senting new  ideas  to  them,  relative  to  labor,  which 
no  one  has  undertaken  before. 

"  For  instance,  the  young  girls  have  been  taught 
trades  that  will  be  valuable  to  them  should  they 
immigrate.  They  could  find  ready  employment  in 
the  large  manufacturing  establishments  in  our 
metropolitan  cities. 

"  I  fear  I  am  tiring  you  with  matters  with  which 
you  are  already  acquainted. 

"  Permit  me  again  to  congratulate  you  upon  the 


BEGINNINGS  AT  KNOCK.  247 

good  you  have  already  done,  and  to  say  that  you 
have  my  sympathy  and  prayers  to  enable  you  to 
continue  your  good  work.  Very  truly  yours, 

"JOHN  KELLY. 

"  SISTER  MARY   FRANCIS   CLARE,   Knock,  Ballyhaunis,  County 
Mayo,  Ireland." 

This  kind  of  special,  or  if  I  may  say,  common- 
sense  training,  would  I  hoped  have  been  a  special 
advantage  to  Irish  girls,  who  are  not  in  the  way  of 
finding  employment  in  stores  or  factories,  and 
who  must  go  into  domestic  service  either  in 
America  or  in  Ireland.  In  either  case,  the  train- 
ing would  have  been  equally  beneficial  and  neces- 
sary. 

There  were  so  many  little  industries  which  Irish 
girls  could  have  practised  if  they  had  only  been 
taught  and  encouraged  ;  and  so  much  could  have 
been  done  to  make  their  poor  homes  more  com- 
fortable, if  they  could  only  be  told  what  to  do  and 
how  to  do  it. 

I  began  at  Knock  by  giving  employment  to 
about  forty  girls  in  knitting  stockings ;  and  a 
London  firm  very  heartily  entered  into  my  plans, 
as  indeed  did  every  one  except  those  who  had 
power  to  prevent  me.  From  this  firm  I  got  a 
supply  of  fine  twine  for  netting  horses'  ear-caps 
and  fly-protectors,  used  for  the  large  dray  horses 
in  London  during  the  summer  months.  This 


248  THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

firm  kindly  paid  the  expense  of  the  material  and 
of  the  manufactured  articles  to  and  from  London. 
I  found  some  difficulty  in  this  work,  as,  simple  as  it 
was,  it  required  care,  and  the  girls,  quite  untrained 
to  any  kind  of  employment,  were  not  careful. 
This  carefulness  was  very  hard  to  teach  ;  still  I 
hoped  I  could  teach  them  something.  The  firm 
was  very  patient  with  our  failures.  The  girls  were 
earning  a  trifle  weekly,  instead  of  standing  about 
doing  nothing.  I  tried  to  make  them  proud  of 
their  little  earnings  and  soon  they  bqgan  to  be  so, 
and  to  try  to  do  better  in  order  to  earn  more. 

I  have  somewhat  anticipated  events  in  this 
chapter,  but  I  think  it  better  to  complete  this 
part  of  the  history. 

I  also  opened  a  kindergarten,  making  it  suitable 
to  the  place  and  circumstances.  Several  of  the 
sisters  were  admirably  fitted  for  this  work.  I 
arranged  some  special  songs  and  rhymes  for  them 
myself.  The  bright,  sweet  babies,  for  some  of 
them  were  little  else,  soon  found  it  quite  a  pleas- 
ure, and  were  more  eager  to  come  to  us  than  to 
play  with  the  pig,  or  make  dirt  pies  on  the  road- 
side. When  they  had  not  older  sisters  to  bring 
them  to  school,  I  paid  a  boy  to  bring  them  to  and 
from  their  poor  homes. 

I  doubt  not  .that  some  of  the  American  tourists 
who  came  to  see  us  will  remember  what  a  sue- 


RELIGIOUS   TRAINING   OF  GIRLS. 


249 


cess  this  undertaking  was,  until  it  was  ruthlessly 
broken  up. 

Before  leaving  this  subject,  I  should  say  also, 
that  I  have  always  felt  that  working  girls  should 
have  a  religious  and  moral,  as  well  as  practical 
training  for  domestic  service,  and  in  this  I  always 
include  domestic  life.  The  girl  who  has  learned 
to  be  a  good  servant  is  making  the  best  prepara- 
tion to  be  a  good  wife  and  a  good  mother.  She 
is  learning  habits  which  can  only  be  taught  by 
daily  exercise  in  religious  and  moral  training.  I 
also  wished  to  teach  them,  and  this  teaching  can 
only  be  given  effectually  while  they  are  young, 
that  domestic  service  is  not  a  degradation,  and 
that  the  woman  who  does  her  part  best  in  life  is 
the  woman  who  does  best  all  her  domestic  duties, 
whether  in  the  family  or  in  special  employment. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Archbishop  McEvilly 
had  required  in  the  authorization  for  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Knock  Convent,  that  sufficient  funds, 
the  amount  not  being  specified,  should  be  ob- 
tained before  it  was  begun.  This  was  a  perfectly 
fair  arrangement,  but  the  wording  of  his  permis- 
sion was  sufficiently  vague  to  excite  comment,  and 
there  were  many  priests  in  the  diocese  who  told 
me  privately,  that  the  sum  when  named,  would 
prove  very  large  and  probably  very  difficult  to  get. 

There  was  another  subject  at  this  time  under 


THE  NUN  OF 


250 

consideration,  and  this  was  making  alterations  in 
our  rule,  or  founding  a  new  religious  order  suita- 
ble for  the  work.  While  I  was  in  Claremorris, 
Father  Cavanagh  was  very  anxious  about  this. 
On  the  igth  of  May  1882,  he  wrote  to  me  in 
regard  to  some  manuscript  which  I  had  sent  him  : 
"  I  got  the  introduction  to  the  new  rules  ;  so  far,  I 
consider  they  are  very  good  and  very  satisfactory. 
I  hope  to  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  the  matter 
arranged  on  the  day  of  His  Grace's  visit  to  Clare- 
morris." I  begged  Archdeacon  Cavanagh  to 
speak  personally  to  the  archbishop  when  he  came 
to  hold  his  visitation  of  the  clergy  of  the  diocese 
on  the  24th  of  May,  same  year  (1882),  but  although 
he  promised,  he  failed  to  do  this.  Archdeacon 
Cavanagh  seemed  to  be  always  afraid  of  the 
archbishop  ;  I  believe  because  he  thought  any 
annoyance  might  prejudice  him  against  the  Knock 
apparition.  The  fate  of  nations  has  often  de- 
pended upon  the  health  of  kings,  but  it  is  very 
sad  that  important  matters  affecting  the  deepest 
interests  of  religion,  should  depend  on  the  temper 
of  a  bishop  or  his  personal  likes  or  dislikes. 

Indeed  on  one  occasion  I  had  to  make  peace  be 
tween  the  two  ecclesiastics.  An  American  priest 
who  came  to  visit  Knock  had  written  an  account 
of  some  vision  which  he  had  seen.  The  whole 
narrative  read  as  if  it  were  either  a  production  of 


DIFFERENT  CATHOLIC  ORDERS. 


251 


a  lunatic  or  a  burlesque  on  visions  in  general.  All 
the  same,  Father  Cavanagh  gave  it  full  credit,  and 
it  was  published  in  the  local  press.  The  arch- 
bishop was  very  angry,  and  a  bishop's  anger  is  not 
generally  modified  by  ordinary  restraints.  Father 
Cavanagh  was  in  such  a  state  of  fright  as  I  could 
hardly  have  supposed  possible.  He  was  always  so 
afraid  of  any  difficulty  about  Knock ;  but  the 
archbishop  if  quickly  angered  was  also  easily 
placated  by  an  abject  submission,  which  he  gener- 
ally received,  nor  was  he  one  to  keep  up  anger. 
I  wish  to  call  attention  to  the  fact,  that  Arch- 
deacon Cavanagh  fully  approved  the  change  of 
religious  order  at  this  time  and  that  I  have  it  in 
his  own  handwriting,  because  he  said  afterwards 
that  he  had  always  disapproved  of  it. 

It  seemed  to  me  that  there  were  quite  a  number 
of  people  who  felt  they  had  a  mission  to  do  all 
they  could,  to  hinder  my  work.  If  I  had,  as  a  secu- 
lar, opened  a  hotel  at  Knock,  or  a  liquor  saloon  in 
Dublin,  or  a  gambling  house  on  the  corner  of  the 
square  where  Cardinal  McCabe  lived,  I  might  have 
gone  on  in  the  even  tenor  of  my  way.  But  as  I 
wished  to  do  a  work  for  the  benefit  of  humanity 
and  the  Catholic  church,  it  changed  everything. 

The  different  religious  orders  of  the  Catholic 
church  have  each  been  founded  to  carry  out  some 
particular  work.  The  Little  Sisters  of  the  Poor, 


252 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


had  their  origin  in  their  desire  to  help  the  aged 
and  friendless  ;  the  sisters  of  Saint  Vincent  de 
Paul  were  established  to  care  for  little  children  ; 
the  education  of  the  rich  seems  to  have  been  the 
raison  d'etre  of  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart. 

I  have  said  elsewhere,  that  there  is  a  distinction 
between  what  are  called  active  and  contemplative 
orders,  and  when  I  made  my  vows  as  a  Poor  Clare, 
I  was  entirely  ignorant  of  these  distinctions, 
neither  did  I  understand  anything  about  the  miti- 
gations and  alterations  which  had  been  made  in 
the  rules  of  the  Poor  Clares.  These  had  been  so 
numerous,  that  the  sisters  in  making  their  vows, 
repeated  continually,  that  this  or  that  observation 
had  been  modified  or  altered  by  this  Pope  or  that ; 
and  often  I  have  heard  the  sisters  say,  they  wished 
the  vows  could  be  made  to  suit  their  present  work 
once  for  all,  and  left  so. 

It  would  have  been  easier  and  simpler,  if  a  new 
order  had  been  founded  when  the  Poor  Clares 
were  required  to  do  active  duty  ;  or  if  they  had  be- 
longed to  the  third  Order  of  Saint  Francis,  which 
is  so  elastic  that  almost  any  active  work  can  be 
done  under  its  rule,  than  to  have  made  all  these 
mitigations  and  alterations. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Father  Cavanagh 
had  already  suggested  the  idea  of  a  new  order  in 
connection  with  Knock,  and  that  he  had  approved 


A   NEW  ORDER  SUGGESTED. 


253 


the  idea  which  I  had,  while  the  archbishop  held  a 
neutral  position. 

I  was  myself  in  considerable  difficulty  ;  for  a  very 
long  time  I  could  not  see  my  way  clearly.  Much 
as  I  prayed  on  the  subject,  no  definite  idea  came 
to  me  at  first.  I  believed  it  to  be  God's  will  that 
I  should  begin  such  a  work,  and  I  wanted  to  be 
sure  that  it  was  God's  will  before  I  moved  in  any 
way  in  the  matter.  Throughout  the  whole  affair  I 
acted  in  the  way  approved  and  appointed  by  the 
Catholic  church.  I  first  consulted  my  confessor, 
and  he  assured  me  that  he  believed  my  wish  was 
entirely  in  accordance  with  the  will  of  God. 

Having  always  a  great  devotion  to  Saint 
Francis  of  Assisi,  and  the  Poor  Clare  order  being 
under  his  patronage,  (although  so  much  altered 
from  the  original  rule  which  he  established  through 
Saint  Clare)  I  felt  very  unwilling  to  found  an  order 
which  was  not  directly  under  his  patronage.  My 
confessor's  reply  to  this  difficulty,  which  I  have  in 
his  own  handwriting,  was,  "  Be  sure  that  Saint 
Francis  will  never  object  to  anything  that  is  done 
for  the  glory  of  God."  I  may  add,  that  every 
founder  or  foundress  of  a  religious  order  in  the 
Roman  church  has  had  difficulties  and  ecclesiasti- 
cal opposition. 

On  the  nth  of  May,  1882,  I  received  the  letter 
from  my  confessor,  from  which  the  above  extract 


254 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


is  taken.  I  must  also  say  that,  with  the  one  ex- 
ception of  the  Kenmare  sisters,  the  other  sisters 
belonging  to  the  different  houses  of  the  Poor  Clare 
order  never  made  the  slightest  objection  to  my 
change  ;  neither  they  or  the  Kenmare  sisters  had 
any  right,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  to  interfere 
with  what  I  did,  as  each  house  was  separate  and 
independent  of  the  other ;  still,  knowing  them 
all  so  well,  I  valued  an  expression  of  their  good 
will  greatly.  Quite  recently  I  saw  a  letter  from 
the  superioress  of  the  Harold's  Cross  Convent, 
Dublin,  to  a  lady  in  America,  in  which  she  said 
she  was  sure  I  would  do  anything  I  could  to  help 
her  as  she  brought  a  recommendation  from  them, 
for  she  knew  how  I  loved  the  order,  although  I 
had  founded  another. 

In  fact,  I  still  have  most  affectionate  correspond- 
ence with  all  the  houses  of  Poor  Clares  in  Ireland, 
with  the  one  exception  of  Kenmare. 

My  first  idea  was,  that  we  should  belong  to  the 
third  Order  of  Saint  Francis,  and  the  Franciscan 
fathers  were  very  anxious  that  this  should  be  done. 
They  have  always  been  interested  in  my  work, 
and  anxious  to  help  me  in  every  way  possible, 
though  they  were  not  so  well  disposed  to  the  Poor 
Clares  for  many  reasons.  But  every  effort  I  made 
in  this  direction  seemed  to  be  discouraged  in  some 
way  or  another,  and  eventually  the  idea  of  the 


A    CHANGE  REFUSED. 


255 


Sisters  of  Peace  seemed  to  come  to  me  as  a  happy 
inspiration. 

My  next  duty  was  of  course  to  put  this  matter 
before  my  bishop.  Step  by  step  I  followed  the 
regular  canonical  course  in  what  I  did  ;  beginning 
by  asking  the  advice  of  my  confessor,  and  finishing 
by  asking  permission  of  the  Pope,  with  the  result 
of  obtaining  the  permission  of  His  Holiness.  As 
to  Archbishop  McEvilly,  he  invariably  gave  me 
the  same  reply,  he  would  not  sanction  any  change 
"at  present."  In  a  letter  dated  Oct.  19,  1883,  he 
reminds  me  of  this,  and  adds  these  remarkable 
words,  "  and  I  have  always  underlined  the  words 
at  present" 

I  should  also  say  that  Archbishop  McEvilly 
approved  the  new  order  so  far  as  to  authorize  me 
to  establish  a  confraternity  to  be  called  Saint 
Joseph's  Confraternity  of  Peace. 

Now  if  the  English  language  has  any  meaning, 
if  a  person  writes  to  you  and  says  he  will  not  auth- 
orize anything  "  at  present "  is  it  not  natural  to 
suppose  that  he  may  authorize  it  in  the  future  ? 
And  when  he  writes  to  you  saying,  I  have  always 
underlined  the  words  "  at  present,"  will  not  any 
ordinary  mind  conclude  that  the  writer  means, 
"  though  I  will  not  do  so  and  so  at  present,  I  may 
do  so  at  some  future  time  ? " 


CHAPTER   XV. 

CLAREMORRIS   CONTINUED. 

Correspondence  and  Labors  —  Letter  from  Rev.  Dr.  Croke,  Archbishop 
of  Cashel  —  Fresh  Attacks  from  Mr.  Angus  and  an  Anonymous 
"Bishop" — Bishop  Higgins  Compelled  to  tell  the  Truth — Father 
Cavanagh  Begins  to  Change  —  Advised  by  Archbishop  Croke  to  Pub- 
lish my  Letters  and  Documents  —  The  Anonymous  Bishop  Continues 
—  I  Write  to  the  Weekly  Register  —  Letters  from  Archbishop  Cava- 
nagh and  Bishop  McCormack. 

I  HAD  now  an  immense  correspondence  on  hand. 
As  people  were  looking  to  the  proposed  work  at 
Knock  as  one  likely  to  benefit  the  Irish  race,  not 
only  at  home  but  abroad,  and  both  from  a  spiritual 
and  a  social  point  of  view,  money  was  sent  to  me 
freely  and  generously,  and  the  late  Mr.  John  Kelly 
was  not  the  only  munificent  helper  of  my  work. 

Some  of  the  priests  of  the  Tuam  diocese  seemed 
to  sympathize  with  me ;  I  say  seemed,  because 
whether  they  really  did  so  or  not  I  cannot  say,  as 
later  there  was  a  marked  change,  when  it  was  found 
I  was  not  in  ecclesiastical  favor. 

I  hoped  now  to  live  in  peace.  As  far  as  I  knew, 
Bishop  Higgins  had  ceased  to  interfere  in  my 
affairs.  I  knew  the  Kenmare  sisters  kept  a  close 
watch  upon  my  movements  ;  indeed,  my  secretary, 
who  went  home  to  see  her  mother,  the  Mrs. 

256 


APPEAL    TO  ARCHBISHOP  CROKE. 


257 


D whose  name  had  been  forged  by  the  sis- 
ters to  the  despatch,  told  me  that  she  could  not 
imagine  how  they  got  to  know  so  many  details  of 
what  I  was  doing.  Still  I  hoped  it  was  not  possi- 
ble for  them  to  injure  my  work  further,  though  I 
knew  from  tourists  how  they  spoke  of  me  to  trav- 
ellers passing  through  Kenmare. 

At  this  time  I  had  nearly  given  up  all  literary 
work,  as  I  had  only  time  to  attend  to  business.  I 
hoped  I  should  be  allowed  to  go  on  quietly  with 
my  work. 

But  this  was  not  to  be.  The  most  Rev.  Dr. 
Croke,  Archbishop  of  Cashel,  had  always  taken  a 
warm  interest  in  my  work  for  the  poor.  As  I 
have  already  said,  he  defended  me  when  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Angus  began  his  attacks  on  me  in  Kenmare. 
Scarcely  had  I  settled  in  Claremorris  convent, 
when  I  received  a  letter  from  this  archbishop, 
in  which  he  told  me  that  a  "  bishop  "  had  written 
to  him  to  say  that  my  leaving  Kenmare  was  "  a 
simple  escapade  "  accomplished  without  the  leave 
or  license  of  any  superior,  underlining  the  word 
"any."  I  at  once  sent  Archbishop  Croke,  Bishop 
Higgins's  letter  which  showed  that  I  had  his 
leave,  and  of  course  that  was  all  that  was  needed. 
But  this  was  quite  useless.  The  anonymous 
bishop  was  determined  to  believe  the  libel,  and 
my  work  was  hindered  and  delayed  as  it  has  been 


258  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

so  often.  For  several  weeks  I  was  wearied  with 
letters  on  the  subject,  and  the  affair  was  only 
ended  by  Archbishop's  Croke's  kindness,  as  he 
brought  this  bishop  face  to  face  with.  Bishop 
Higgins  in  Dublin,  and  compelled  Bishop  Hig- 
gins  to  tell  the  truth,  and  to  say  that  the  charge 
against  me  was  absolutely  without  foundation. 
The  charge,  however,  is  being  continually  re- 
newed even  to  this  day. 

It  is  quite  evident  that  those  who  started  the 
calumny  were  anxious  to  propagate  it  and  con- 
tinue it  without  the  slightest  regard  to  its  truth 
or  falsehood. 

There  were  only  two  parties  who  could  have 
made  the  charge  in  such  a  way  as  to  induce  this 
anonymous  bishop  to  be  so  positive  that  it  was 
true.  One  was  Bishop  Higgins,  the  other  was 
the  Kenmare  sisters.  I  will  leave  the  matter 
between  them. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  I  left  Kenmare  and 
went  to  Knock  with  my  confessor,  Rev.  James 
Nelligan.  When  the  reports  were  started  by  this 
bishop,  I  wrote  to  Father  Neligan,  and  received  a 
letter  from  him  which  will  be  found  in  full  in  the 
appendix.  In  this  he  says ,  — 

"  The  calumny  that  you  left  Kenmare  without 
the  proper  permission  of  your  superiors  is  too 
absurd.  Don't  mind :  patience  and  resignation 


AN  ANONYMOUS  BISHOP  REFUTED. 


259 


will  right  all  things.  I  am  simply  bewildered  at 
its  being  even  mooted  that  you  left  Kenmare  with- 
out the  necessary  permission.  I  repeat  again,  you 
had  the  fullest  sanction  from  your  superiors  to 
leave." 

This  bishop  was  so  positive  that  he  was  right 
that  he  said,  when  shown  all  the  documents  by 
Archbishop  Croke,  that  I  had  obtained  the  leave, 
after  I  left  Kenmare,  and  not  before,  which  was 
also  false.  If  any  gentleman  had  been  deceived, 
as  this  bishop  had  been,  by  false  reports,  he 
would  have  felt  it  a  duty  to  retract  publicly  what 
he  had  publicly  stated  ;  but  of  course  such  an  act 
of  justice  would  not  be  considered  consistent  with 
the  dignity  of  a  Roman  Catholic  bishop. 

The  wearying  anxiety  of  defending  myself 
against  these  unceasing  accusations  began  soon 
to  tell  upon  my  health. 

At  this  time,  Father  Cavanagh  appeared  favora- 
bly disposed  both  to  me,  and  to  the  work  I  wished 
to  undertake.  It  was  not  until  he  came  under  the 
fatal  influence  of  his  relatives  at  Knock  that  he 
changed  so  completely. 

The  superioress  of  Claremorris  Convent  hap- 
pened to  be  a  great  friend  of  Father  Cavanagh, 
and  on  the  I7th  of  June  he  wrote  to  me, — 

"  I  am  delighted  to  find  that  you  have  got  such 
a  kind  and  hearty  reception  at  the  convent ;  indeed, 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


it  could  not  be  otherwise,  especially  as  my  dear 
friend  Mother  Columba  is  superioress  ;  this  is  a 
very  favorable  circumstance,  on  which  I  must  con- 
gratulate you  as  well  as  myself.  .  Everything  will 
go  favorably  now." 

And  perhaps  everything  would  have  gone  on 
favorably  to  the  end,  if  Father  Cavanagh  had  not 
allowed  himself  to  be  influenced  by  persons  who 
cared  nothing  but  for  their  own  selfish  ends,  and 
if  persons  like  this  unknown  bishop  had  not  occu- 
pied themselves  with  my  affairs. 

About  this  time,  Archbishop  Croke  wrote  me  a 
letter,  an  extract  from  which  is  placed  at  the 
beginning  of  this  work.  I  sent  this  letter  to 
Father  Cavanagh,  March  4,  1882,  and  he  replied,  — 

"  You  ought  to  act  on  Dr.  Croke's  advice  to 
publish  the  letters  of  Bishop  Higgins  and  your 
confessor,  which  prove  how  utterly  and  mali- 
ciously false  this  bishop's  reports  were,  for  Arch- 
bishop Croke  is  surely  a  great  and  sincere  friend. 
Both  from  his  exalted  position  in  the  church,  and 
his  great  learning  and  ability,  he  is  held  in  the 
greatest  esteem  by  his  countrymen  all  over  the 
world.  Circulate  his  very  memorable  letter  to 
you  everywhere,  at  home  and  abroad. 

On  the  8th  of  March,  a  few  days  later,  Father 
Cavanagh  wrote  ;  — 


FATHER   CAVANAGH'S  LETTER.  26l 

"  As  to  what  an  unknown  bishop  says  of  an  '  es- 
capade,' I  do  not  see  how  he  can  conscientiously 
use  such  a  term  ;  I  will  not  say  a  word  about  the 
utter  inapplicability  of  such  a  term,  but  it  is  un- 
just and  unmerited.  It  is  very  strange  phraseol- 
ogy under  such  circumstances,  and  I  regret  that 
any  bishop  would  have  made  use  of  such  language." 

I  give  another  extract  from  a  letter  of  Arch- 
bishop Cavanagh's,  to  show  how  interested  he  ap- 
peared to  be  in  my  work.  Knowing  from  the 
reports  of  the  physicians  that  I  was  threatened 
with  heart  trouble,  he  wrote  to  me  on  the  third  .of 
February,  1882,  —  "  You  ought  to  take  special  care 
of  your  health,  and  be  very  cautious  when  going 
up  or  down  stairs  to  walk  slowly."  At  that  time 
I  was  not  forbidden  by  the  doctors  to  go  up  or 
down  stairs  as  I  have  been  since.  I  could  give 
many  other  extracts  from  his  letters,  but  these  will 
suffice.  His  natural  kindness  of  heart  seemed  to 
have  altogether  forsaken  him  when  brought  under 
the  evil  influence  of  his  friends  at  Knock. 

"The  documents  which  you  have  sent  Arch- 
bishop Croke  ought  to  satisfy  this  bishop  and  any 
unprejudiced  mind,  that  your  coming  here  was  in 
perfect  accordance  with  what  the  church  requires. 
You  had  the  approbation  of  your  religious  supe- 
rior, the  sanction  of  the  acting  bishop  of  your 


262  THE  NUN  OF   KENMARE. 

diocese,  with  the  full  concurrence  both  of  His 
Grace  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam  and  myself,  as 
both  of  us  had  written  to  you  to  Kenmare,  testify- 
ing that  they  were  well  aware  of  your  coming 
here,  and  arranging  with  you  about  establishing 
and  founding  a  convent  here.  These  facts  have 
appeared  before  the  world  long  since,  and  I  do  not 
see  the  use  of  saying  any  more  about  them." 

On  this  subject  I  quite  agreed  with  Archdeacon 
Cavanagh,  but  what  could  I  do,  when  these  charges 
were,  and  are,  repeated  again  and  again,  to  this 
very  day. 

The  extent  to  which  I  was  interfered  with 
would  scarcely  be  credited  if  I  had  not  document- 
ary evidence.  These  busy  bishops,  priests,  sisters, 
and  ladies,  never  gave  one  thought  to  the  poor  for 
whom  I  was  so  anxious  to  work ;  it  seemed  as  if 
they  were  of  no  account.  And  yet  all  this  time 
poor  Ireland  was  in  a  state  of  seething  discontent, 
for  which  I  alone  proposed  a  practical  remedy, 
which  even  if  it  had  failed  could  have  done  no 
harm  in  the  trial.  The  poor  in  Dublin  were  in  a 
most  wretched  state,  and  needed  help  sorely.  The 
threats  of  the  church  proved  perfectly  useless 
when  the  sympathies  of  the  archbishop  were 
against  the  people.  A  gentleman,  well  known 
for  his  interest  in  the  poor,  wrote  to  me,  "  You 
need  not  expect  help  from  any  of  us  in  any  work 


POOR   CHILDREN  OF  DUBLIN.  263 

for  the  church,  since  the  pope  has  taken  the  part 
of  our  enemies  ;  only  for  him,  we  would  have  long 
since  obtained  freedom  and  peace."  It  would  be  a 
revelation  if  I  could  publish  some  of  the  letters 
I  received  at  this  time.  When  Cardinal  McCabe 
was  not  busy  denouncing  the  Land  League,  and 
courting  the  English  government,  he  occupied 
himself  denouncing  some  ladies  who  were  trying 
to  save  the  poor  children  ;  who,  notwithstanding 
all  the  priests  and  convents  in  Dublin,  were  run- 
ning wild  in  the  streets,  and  graduating  fast  for 
the  jails  or  reformatories.  I  have  often  wondered 
how  some  Roman  Catholic  bishops  can  occupy 
themselves  in  denouncing  evils  which  they  never 
attempt  to  remedy.  The  case  of  these  poor  chil- 
dren was  most  sad.  They  were  mostly  the  off- 
spring of  drunken  parents,  who  drank  half  the  time, 
because  they  had  nothing  else  to  do.  I  thought, 
not  unnaturally,  that  the  cardinal  would  be  re- 
joiced to  find  some  one  who  would  care  for  these 
unhappy  children,  and  save  them  from  these 
ladies  whom  he  was  so  busy  denouncing.  But  I 
soon  found  I  was  mistaken  ;  I  offered  to  take 
them  to  Knock  as  soon  as  I  could  get  a  place  for 
them,  to  train  them  for  domestic  service  at  my 
own  expense ;  to  send  some  to  America  where  I 
knew  that  they  would  easily  get  good  places  if 
they  were  properly  trained,  and  where  they  might 


264 


THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


become  a  credit  to  their  church  and  to  their  coun- 
try. But,  though  the  archbishop  never  ceased 
denouncing  the  Protestant  ladies  who  were  trying 
to  save  those  poor  children,  he  would  not  hear  of  any- 
thing of  a  practical  character  being  done  for  them. 
In  fact,  a  priest  who  ventured  to  preach  on  their 
miserable  condition  was  sent  away  from  Dublin, 
though  he  did  not  say  even  one  word  which  could 
have  reflected  in  any  way  on  ecclesiastical  authority. 
A  lady  in  Dublin,  who  would  have  been  much  better 
occupied  in  caring  for  these  poor  children,  wrote  me 
volumes  of  letters,  dictated  by  a  priest,  with  full 
directions  what  I  should  do  to  make  public  repara- 
tion for  my  scandalous  conduct  in  "leaving  my  con- 
vent without  permission."  Father  Angus  continued 
his  mission  of  directing  my  affairs  with  zeal  and 
energy ;  as  for  the  poor,  no  one  thought  of  them. 
I  had  some  curious  experiences  of  how  extremes 
meet ;  a  distinguished  member  of  the  Land  League 
was  sent  to  Knock  to  discredit  it  as  much  as  pos- 
sible. A  prominent  dynamiter  wrote  to  me  over 
his  own  name  to  say  that  I  must  give  up  all 
attempts  to  establish  any  work  for  girls  at  Knock 
until  the  country  was  "settled."  An  evidence,  if 
such  was  needed,  that  if  I  had  been  allowed  to 
carry  out  my  plans  in  peace  by  Bishop  Higgins 
and  his  friends,  it  might  not  have  been  the  least 
unlikely  way  of  bringing  peace  to  poor  Ireland 


LADIES'  LAND  LEAGUE.  26$ 

and  settling  it,  under  those  "  heretical  laws " 
which  he  was  always  so  anxious  to  maintain  when 
they  did  not  interfere  with  his  own  ideas  of 
justice.  Another  accusation  against  me  was,  that 
I  belonged  to  the  Ladies'  Land  League.  I  saw 
this  stated  in  a  letter  to  Canon  Burke  written  by 
a  bishop  who  was  then  in  Rome,  and  who  was 
quite  favorable  to  my  work.  Between  injudicious 
friends  and  hidden  foes,  I  had  a  hard  time.  This 
bishop  said  he  was  sure  I  must  succeed,  as  I  was 
"president  of  the  Ladies'  Land  League."  Now  it 
so  happened  that  so  far  from  being  president,  I 
had  some  reasons  for  not  approving  of  this  move- 
ment, and  never  associated  myself  with  it  in  any 
way.  But  this,  of  course,  was  of  no  moment  when 
a  priest  made  the  charge. 

I  know  that  my  case  was  very  much  prejudiced 
in  America  by  these  statements.  The  Bishop  of 
Cleveland,  Dr.  Gilmore,  had  trouble  with  some 
ladies  of  his  congregation  whom  he  denounced  as 
"unsexed  viragos,"  because  they  had  joined  the 
Ladies'  Land  League,  I  know  that  poor  Father 
Angus  was  in  active  communication  with  him,  and 
I  have  good  reason  to  believe  that  the  bishop  was 
assured  that  I  belonged  to  this  association.  Of 
course  the  bishop,  being  a  Roman  Catholic,  would 
not  consider  it  necessary  to  inquire  whether  this 
accusation  was  true  or  not  before  acting  on  it. 


266  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

As  it  happened,  I  was  appealed  to  on  behalf  of  the 
wives  and  families  of  the  Fenian  prisoners  who 
had  confessed  their  share  in  a  murder  case.  The 
Land  League  party,  while  giving  money  freely  to 
those  who  would  not  make  any  confession,  gave 
these  people  nothing,  and,  forsaken  by  every  one, 
they  were  actually  starving ;  so  I  should  have 
merited  the  special  approbation  oi  some  of  these 
bishops.  I  have  some  letters  which  would  throw 
a  curious  light  on  public  affairs  if  I  chose  to  pub- 
lish them. 

But  there  were  two  persons  who  would  by  no 
means  leave  me  in  peace  altogether,  —  the  anony- 
mous bishop  and  "Father"  Angus,  or  "  Anguis," 
as  some  of  his  ecclesiastical  brethren  used  to  style 
him.  Like  the  sisters  in  Kenmare,  he  felt  that 
he  "  had  a  mission  "  to  perform  in  "  hunting  me 
down."  It  is  hard  to  say  which  did  the  most 
harm  ;  but  I  fear,  Father  Angus  did  more  injury 
to  religion,  as  he  had  greater  opportunities. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  his  persistent  personal 
attacks ;  I  shall  have  to  return  to  the  subject 
again.  While  I  was  in  Claremorris,  he  was  occu- 
pied as  usual ;  indeed, he  seemed  to  have  very  little 
else  to  do  except  to  give  me  annoyance,  and  I  was 
obliged  to  "  deal  with  a  fool  according  to  his  folly." 
I  wrote  a  reply  to  his  attacks  in  the  London 
Weekly  Register,  Jan.  6,  1882,  and  received  the 


LETTER  FROM  BISHOP  McCOKMACK.        26/ 

following  letter  from  Archdeacon  Cavanagh  on  the 
subject,  — 

"  I  have  received  your  excellent,  I  would  say 
admirable  letter,  in  reply  to  the  scurrilous  articles 
that  appeared  in  the  Weekly  Register.  Your  letter 
is  very  clear,  forcible,  and  convincing.  It  will,  I 
am  sure,  remove  from  the  readers  of  the  Register 
any  erroneous  impressions  made  by  his  foolish  and 
wretched  attacks.  Your  letter,  all  through,  is  high- 
toned  and  convincing  at  the  same  time.  I  look 
on  it  as  a  lucid  vindication  of  your  acts  in  what 
you  wrote  or  did  for  the  poor,  without  going  one 
whit  beyond  the  sanction  given  by  your  religious, 
as  well  as  ecclesiastical  superior." 

I  may  also  quote  from  a  letter  I  received  about 
this  time  from  Bishop  McCormack,  who  governs 
the  next  diocese  to  that  of  Tuam.  After  thank- 
ing me  for  some  service  which  I  had  done  to  his 
nephew,  he  says  :  "  You  should  not  take  to 
heart  these  clumsy  calumnies  ;  time  is  a  great 
settler,  and  it  will  clear  up  these  false  charges  to 
your  entire  satisfaction." 

But  these  false  charges  are  still  repeated,  even  in 
America,  by  American  bishops,  and  by  the  public 
press  under  their  control,  and  the  kindly  prophecy 
remains  unfulfilled. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

KNOCK. 

I  Go  to  Knock  —  Sister  M.  —  Her  Peculiarities  —  Living  in  a  Stable 
—  Neither  Food  nor  Bedding  —  A  Serious  Illness  —  A  Nurse  who 
wanted  Rich  Patients — I  Receive  Permission  to  Build — The 
Ground  Selected  —  Leased  from  Lord  Dillon  —  Mr.  Hague  Chosen 
as  the  Architect  —  We  Rent  a  House  —  Trouble  with  our  Landlord  — 
Improper  Behavior  by  his  Family  —  The  Work  Interfered  with  — 
Workmen  Enticed  to  Drink  —  I  Send  for  my  Solicitor  —  Father  j .  — 
A  Quarrelsome  Curate  —  His  Abusive  Conduct  —  Interference  of 
Sister  M. —  Her  Complaints  —  I  Ask  for  a  Visitation  —  Refused 
by  the  Archbishop. 

IN  the  month  of  August,  1882,  the  archbishop 
gave  me  leave  to  go  to  Knock  and  to  open  a  con- 
vent there.  I  was  indeed  overjoyed  at  this  con- 
cession, for  which  I  had  long  been  urgently  en- 
treating. When  he  gave  the  permission,  the  great 
difficulty  was  to  find  a  house  suitable  for  sisters. 
There  was  also  a  difficulty  about  getting  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  sisters  to  begin  the  work  with. 
The  Poor  Clare  convents  had  so  few  sisters,  that 
they  could  not  spare  any,  and  the  archbishop  was 
very  unwilling  to  let  me  receive  postulants  without 
professed  sisters.  All  these  difficulties  were 
eventually  got  over,  and  the  work  fairly  started, 
and  by  the  archbishop's  desire,  I  went  to  the  con- 
vent of  Poor  Clares  at  Cavan,  and  while  there  ob- 

268 


SISTEK   M ENGAGED. 


269 


tained  the  services  of  a  professed  lay  sister,  who 
proved  one  of  the  greatest  troubles  of  my  life,  and 
one  of  the  causes  of  the  breaking  up  of  the  Knock 
convent. 

This  sister  was  entirely  uneducated,  she  could 
neither  read  or  write,  but  her  appearance  was  very 
much  in  her  favor,  and  she  was  gifted  with  that 
peculiar  low  cunning  which  is  very  often  the  heri- 
tage of  her  class.  She  made  a  great  display  of 
love  and  zeal  for  religious  observances,  and  was 
very  anxious  indeed  to  see  them  practised  by 
others.  But  the  sisters  often  remarked  how  little 
her  practice  corresponded  with  her  precepts. 

Immediately  after  I  returned  from  Cavan  with 

Sister  M ,  I  had  a  serious  illness  at  Knock,  in 

which  my  life  was  despaired  of.  The  persons  who 
owned  the  only  house  there,  refused  to  rent  it  to 
me  except  at  an  exorbitant  price.  I  had  no  re- 
source then,  except  to  hire  the  stables  belonging 
to  this  house,  and  fit  them  up  as  best  I  could. 
We  were  indeed  living  in  "holy  poverty."  The 
stables  were  a  wretched  wooden  structure,  open 
to  all  the  winds  of  heaven  ;  and  after  the  comfort, 
and  I  might  almost  say,  the  luxury,  that  the  Ken- 
mare  sisters  have,  the  wonder  is,  not  that  I  became 
dangerously  ill,  but  that  I  lived.  This  poor  lay 
sister  had  at  least,  one  good  qualification,  she  was 
an  excellent  nurse,  She  had  become  very  much 


2/O 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


attached  to  me,  and  I  believe  very  much  of  the 
subsequent  trouble  arose  from  her  jealousy,  and 
because  I  could  not  allow  her  to  be  first  in  every- 
thing. If  she  had  had  a  good  adviser  in  Father 
Cavanagh,  her  life  and  mine  would  have  been  very 
different. 

I  can  never  forget  the  day  I  arrived  to  open  the 
convent  in  Knock.  When  we  came  to  the  stable 
everything  was  wanting,  even  the  beds  which  I 
had  ordered  had  not  arrived,.  We  had  no  food,  and 
neither  the  archdeacon  or  his  niece  had  thought  of 
providing  anything  for  us.  The  suffering  I  en- 
dured in  consequence  was  serious,  even  the  man 
whom  I  had  left  to  make  some  repairs  to  the  stables 
in  order  to  make  them  a  little  habitable,  had  neg- 
lected his  work,  and  spent  his  time  drinking  at  a 
bar  or  liquor  saloon,  which  the  people  who  owned 
the  house  had  opened  for  the  benefit  of  the  pil- 
grims. 

The  illness  from  which  I  suffered  was  tonsilitis 
and  diphtheria.  There  was  an  awful  storm  of  wind 
and  rain  on  the  night  of  my  arrival,  the  stables 
were  literally  open  to  the  winds  and  rains  of 
heaven,  and  it  may  be  imagined  how  unsuitable  a 
place  it  was  for  a  delicate  person  even  if  well, 
much  more  for  one  who  was  dangerously  ill. 
Later  we  managed  to  find  shelter  by  pasting  thick 
brown  paper  all  over  the  gaping  planks. 


A   SERIOUS   ILLNESS. 


271 


My  illness  soon  became  so  serious  that  it  was 
necessary  to  have  a  skilled  nurse.  A  despatch 
was  sent  to  the  nursing  sisters  (Bon  Secour).  A 
sister  came  down,  but  only  to  her  disappointment 
and  mine.  She  was  accustomed  to  nurse  only  the 
rich,  and  I  was  obliged  to  let  her  go  in  a  day  or 
two  from  a  place  where  there  was  nothing  but 
poverty  and  discomfort.  I  also  wanted  her  only 
at  night,  and  she  could  have  slept  all  day  ;  but  she 
would  not  do  this,  and  insisted  that  I  should  call 
her  when  I  needed  her ;  I  had  no  bell  of  any 
kind,  and  the  pain  of  speaking  was  so  great  that  I 
preferred  to  arise,  though  I  knew  it  was  a  dan- 
gerous thing  to  do,  rather  than  call  her.  I  recov- 
ered very  slowly  and  owed  much  to  Sister  M 's 

good  nursing  and  devoted  care.  Several  young 
ladies  then  came  to  join  us,  who  were  not  deterred 
by  our  poor  condition,  and  who  are  now  professed 
and  valuable  members  of  our  order. 

I  had  almost  despaired  of  getting  leave  of  Arch- 
bishop McEvilly  to  begin  the  building  of  the  con- 
vent at  Knock.  A  considerable  sum  of  money 
had  been  collected  by  me  with  his  permission,  and 
by  his  desire,  so  that  there  were  now  quite  suffi- 
cient funds  in  hand.  He  could  not  but  see  that 
the  money  was  coming  in  very  quickly,  and  that 
there  would  be  no  deficiency  on  that  point. 

I  now  come  to  a  very   important  part  of  this 


272 


THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


narrative,  important  to  others  as  well  as  myself. 
On  the  24th  of  May,  1882,  I  got  leave  from  the 
archbishop  to  begin  to  build  ;  and  in  order  to  save 
trouble  for  all  parties  I  was  to  make  the  contracts 
with  the  builders  and  architect.  This  permission 
I  got  in  writing,  and  I  wish  it  to  be  specially 
noted.  The  money  I  received  was  sent  princi- 
pally for  the  purpose  of  helping  the  industrial 
work  which  I  was  anxious  to  carry  out  at  Knock, 
and  not  on  account  of  the  apparition  that  took 
place  there.  I  mention  this  particularly,  because 
later  on  Archdeacon  Cavanagh  made  a  claim  to 
these  funds.  In  every  case  they  were  confided 
to  myself  personally,  and  for  one  particular 
object. 

I  was,  of  course,  the  person  who  was  responsi- 
ble to  the  builder  and  architect  for  all  expenses. 

I  have  long  borne  in  silence  all  the  blame  of 
having  left  Knock  to  ruin,  of  having  left  Ireland, 
of  being  capricious,  and  of  having  been  guilty  of  I 
know  not  how  many  crimes.  I  have  kept  silence 
a  long  time,  probably  too  long,  and  now  that  I 
speak  at  last  I  shall  speak  quite  plainly,  as  it  is  a 
case  in  which  I  must  say  all  or  nothing.  Those 
who  have  been  the  cause  of  my  speaking  out,  or 
who  spread  the  false  reports,  must  take  the  con- 
sequences. 

When  I  obtained  the  archbishop's  permission  to 


A   SITE  SECURED. 


273 


build  the  convent,  the  first  thing  necessary  was  to 
obtain  ground  to  build  on. 

My  own  wish  was  to  have  the  convent  attached 
to  the  church,  and  built  on  the  ground  surround- 
ing the  church,  so  that  our  private  chapel  would 
look  on  the  sanctuary.  This  arrangement  would 
have  been  convenient  both  for  the  sisters  and  the 
priests,  and  it  would  have  saved  considerable  ex- 
pense, but  Father  Cavanagh  so  positively  opposed 
this  plan  that  I  had  to  give  it  up. 

My  next  object  was  to  secure  a  suitable  site  as 
near  the  church  as  possible  ;  and  there  were  some 
fields  just  opposite  which  were  exactly  what  I 
wanted.  Father  Cavanagh  had  rented  part  of 
these  fields,  but  had  no  use  for  them,  and  was  very 
willing  to  gfve  them  up.  Obviously,  however,  it 
was  necessary  to  secure  a  lease  of  the  ground, 
which  belonged  to  Lord  Dillon  ;  he  refused  to 
sell  it,  but  offered  a  lease  of  ninety-nine  years. 
The  archbishop  did  not  like  this  arrangement  at 
first,  but  finally  consented.  A  question  then 
arose  about  the  trustees  of  the  convent.  I  will 
merely  say  that  Archdeacon  Cavanagh,  having  had 
a  serious  quarrel  with  the  owner  of  the  land  (some 
of  the  particulars  of  which  will  be  found  in  the 
appendix),  the  latter  positively  refused  to  allow  his 
name  in  the  lease. 

It  was  then  decided  that  the  trustees  should  be 


274 


THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE, 


Archbishop  McEvilly,  Mr.  Waldron  of  Ballyhaun- 
nis,  .and  myself.  The  lease  was  left  in  my  keep- 
ing, after  being  duly  registered  in  Dublin,  and  I 
have  it  now  in  this  country. 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  that  Archdeacon  Cava- 
nagh  had  no  claim  on  our  property,  either  on 
ecclesiastical  or  secular  grounds. 

I  obtained  leave  of  writing  from  the  Archbishop 
of  Tuam  to  employ  a  Mr.  Hague  as  architect  and 
a  Mr.  Clarence  as  contractor.  The  archbishop 
specially  approved  of  my  employing  Mr.  Hague, 
whom  I  found  to  be  in  every  way  satisfactory. 

I  drew  the  plan  for  the  institution  myself,  and 
asked  the  builder  to  have  it  as  plain  as  possible, 
as  I  have  always  been  opposed  to  spending  money 
on  architectural  ornaments  for  religious  houses. 

As  I  found  it  impossible  to  remain  another 
winter  in  the  stables,  we  had  no  resource  but  to 
rent  the  house  which  had  been  used  as  a  hotel, 
and  which  was  owned  by  Father  Cavanagh's 
friends. 

These  people  were  in  very  great  distress  for 
money,  in  fact,  they  would  probably  have  been 
turned  out  of  their  house,  if  I  had  not  rented  it ; 
and  common  gratitude  should  have  made  them 
act  in  a  very  different  way  from  what  they  did. 
They  charged  us  an  enormous  rent,  which  I  paid 
in  advance,  to  save  them  from  eviction,  and  were 


A   BAR-KEEPING  LANDLORD. 


275 


encouraged  to  do  so  by  Archdeacon  Cavanagh, 
who  never  interested  himself  in  the  least  in  any- 
thing which  would  benefit  the  convent ;  but,  on 
the  contrary,  always  tried  to  make  us  pay  as 
much  money  as  possible  to  his  friends  for  what- 
ever was  done  for  us. 

We  had  scarcely  settled  ourselves  in  this  house 
when  all  the  arrangements  I  had  made  were  set  at 
defiance.  In  fact,  it  was  generally  known  that 
plans  had  been  made  to  try  to  drive  us  out  of 
Knock  by  annoyances,  and  these  annoyances  were 
of  a  character  which  any  priest  should  have  at 
once  put  down.  But  when  these  people  found 
they  had  Father  Cavanagh  on  their  side  they 
were  triumphant.  No  matter  how  they  acted  or 
what  they  did,  they  were  supported  by  him,  and  I 
was  left  to  battle  single-handed. 

The  arrangements  about  renting  the  house  were 

peculiar,  but  simple.  Mr.  K ,  the  landlord, 

as  I  have  said,  had  a  license  for  a  bar,  where  he 
sold  whiskey ;  this  license  he  was  determined  not 
to  give  up,  and  it  would  have  been  taken  from 
him,  if  his  family  had  not  occupied  two  rooms  in 
his  house  as  the  license  was  attached  to  the 
house.  This  arrangement  I  agreed  to,  as  I  had 
no  choice.  There  were  two  rooms  in  the  back  of 
the  house  which  were  only  accessible  by  an  out- 
side staircase,  and  I  had  the  door  which  communi- 


2/6 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


catecl  from  them  to  our  part  of  the  house  boarded 
up;  still,  any  unusual  noise  could  be  heard  through. 
I  used  the  room  next  to  these  rooms  as  a  chapel, 
and  the  Blessed  Sacrament  was  kept  there.  Mr. 

K- had  promised  me  that  no  one  should 

occupy  these  two  rooms  except  his  wife,  and  a 
servant.  In  a  very  short  time  his  two  sons  were 
moved  into  them,  and  the  sisters  found  it  impos- 
sible to  make  their  meditations  or  say  their  office 
with  the  noise  which  was  made.  The  young  men 
were  constantly  singing  songs  of  a  disgraceful 
character,  shouting,  swearing,  and  drinking;  and 
all  this  while  we  were  occupied  at  our  devotions.  • 

As  I  could  not  for  one  moment  suppose  that 
Father  Cavanagh  would  sanction  such  irreverence, 
and  as  I  knew  him  to  profess  so  much  special 
respect  for  holy  things,  and  for  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment, I  thought  I  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  tell 
him  of  the  trouble,  which  one  word  from  him 
would  have  stopped.  I  myself  tried  first  to  put 
an  end  to  it,  but  they  only  laughed  at  me  ;  they 
knew  too  well  that  Archdeacon  Cavanagh  would 
never  object  to  anything  they  might  choose  to  do, 
no  matter  how  annoying  it  was  to  us. 

I  went  to  Father  Cavanagh  at  some  incon- 
venience, but  he  would  not  listen  to  one  word  I 
had  to  say,  and  only  replied  that,  "  If  the  sisters 
were  minding  their  prayers  they  would  not  have 


MY  EYES  ARE   OPENED. 


277 


heard  what  was  going  on  in  the  next  room."  He 
did  not  seem  to  be  at  all  troubled  about  the 
irreverence  to  the  Blessed  Sacrament. 

My  eyes  were  now  beginning  to  be  opened,  and 
I  realized  for  the  first  time  how  terrible  my  posi- 
tion was.  I  was  utterly  alone  and  unprotected, 
and  at  the  mercy  of  people  who  would  not  scruple 
to  do  anything,  no  matter  how  bad,  so  well  were 
they  assured  of  protection. 

I  saw  that  my  work  would  most  likely  be  broken 
up,  and  my  heart  bled  for  the  poor.  How  could  I 
forsake  them  ?  How  could  I  abandon  them  in 
their  misery  ?  How  could  I  disappoint  all  the 
generous  souls  who  had  given  such  abundant 
help  not  only  out  of  their  wealth,  but  out  of  their 
poverty  ?  I  know  this  book  will  be  read  by  many 
who  helped,  who  had  hoped  to  see  a  magnificent 
institution  at  Knock  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor 
of  Ireland.  They  will  see  how  and  why  my  plans 
and  their  good  intentions  were  frustrated,  and  that 
it  was  not  my  fault  that  the  money  which  they  so 
generously  gave  has  all  been  thrown  away.  What 
I  suffered  before  I  gave  up,  God  alone  knows,  and 
he  will  surely  repay  those  who  helped,  all  the  same 
as  if  it  had  succeeded. 

As  I  knew  that  it  was  my  duty  as  superioress  to 
protect  the  sisters  from  annoyance,  and  the 
Blessed  Sacrament  from  disrespect,  I  asked 


278  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

Canon  Bourke  to  come  over  to  me ;  I  knew  that 
he  had  very  great  influence,  and,  in  fact,  one  word 
from  any  priest  would  have  stopped  the  nuisance. 
I  knew,  also,  that  these  people  would  be  afraid  to 
continue  it  if  they  knew  that  it  would  be  spoken 
of  generally  through  the  country. 

Canon  Bourke  came  to  me,  and  was  shocked  at 
what  he  heard ;  he  was  very  unwilling  to  interfere 
in  Father  Cavanagh's  parish,  but  as  he  knew  his 
interference  was  absolutely  necessary,  he  went  to 

Mr.  K and  spoke  out  in  very  plain  terms. 

The  young  men  were  then  removed  from  the 
room,  which,  under  the  agreement,  they  had  no 
right  to  occupy.  Archdeacon  Cavanagh  was  very 
angry  with  me  for  asking  Canon  Bourke  to  do  this, 
and  it  did  not  improve  my  position  at  Knock. 

The  men  who  were  working  on  the  building 
began  now  to  be  enticed  up  to  the  bar  to  drink. 
The  contractor  came  to  me  and  said  he  must 
throw  up  the  work,  as  it  was  a  country  place 
where  it  was  impossible  to  get  other  hands.  I 
went  out  to  the  roadside  different  times,  and  met 
the  men  coming  up  to  drink  at  the  bar  and 
managed  with  considerable  difficulty  to  get  them 
to  turn  away  ;  they  were,  however,  watched  by 

Mr.  K and  his  friends,  and  enticed  back  again 

at  once.  What  could  I  do,  a  woman,  single-handed, 
and  with  both  priest  and  people  against  me? 


A   FEMALE  ENEMY. 

But  I  had  another  and  very  determined  enemy. 
Father  Cavanagh  had  insisted  on  a  young  lady 
joining  our  sisters,  who  had  been  cured  at  Knock. 
He  had  almost  forced  her  to  enter,  but  we  soon 
found  she  had  no  vocation  for  the  life  of  a  sister, 
and  she  very  properly  determined  to  leave,  whether 
he  liked  it  or  not.  She  was  an  exceptionally 
agreeable  person,  and  we  were  all  attached  to  her 

and  sorry  to  lose  her.  This  lady,  Miss  O.  N , 

had  come  from  a  hospital  in  Boston,  Mass.,  to  get 
a  cure  at  Knock.  She  was  a  very  great  friend  of 
a  near  relative  of  Father  Cavanagh,  who  lived  with 
him  ;  this  relative  came  up  to  our  convent  deter- 
mined to  remain  with  Miss  O.  N for  -many 

hours.  I  begged  her  not  to  do  so,  and  as  Miss 

O.  N had  determined  to  remain  a  while  in 

the  village  of  Knock  before  returning  to  her 
friends,  these  young  ladies  could  have  had  as 
much  of  each  other's  society  as  they  wished. 
This  girl,  however,  being  a  relative  of  Father 
Cavanagh,  thought  she  had  a  right  to  do  whatever 
she  pleased  in  the  convent,  and  as  she  was  leav- 
ing she  turned  at  the  hall  door,  and  said  she  would 
make  me  "  pay  for  my  refusal  yet,"  and  she  kept 
her  word. 

I  now  sent  for  my  solicitor  from  Dublin  to  come 
to  Knock  and  see  if  anything  could  be  legally 
done  to  prevent  these  nuisances.  This  was  in 


28o  THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

September,  1882.  He  told  me  that  it  was  useless 
to  attempt  anything  so  long  as  the  people  had 
Father  Cavanagh's  protection,  and  that  the  only 
thing  I  ought  to  do  was  to  leave.  This  was  easier 
said  than  done. 

Another   serious    trouble    was    caused    by    the 

curate  of  the  parish,  and  poor  Sister  M had  a 

great  deal  to  do  with  this  also.  As  I  have  said, 
she  expected  every  one  to  keep  the  rule  except 
herself  ;  and  she  managed  to  get  herself  into  the 
good  graces  of  the  curate  as  well  as  Father  Cava- 

nagh.     It  was  arranged  that  Father  J should 

say  Mass  for  us  every  day,  and  as  he  was  well  paid 
for  it,  he  appeared  at  first  to  be  quite  satisfied. 
He,  however,  lived  in  a  state  of  chronic  feud  with 
all  the  parish,  so  it  was  little  wonder  that  he  fell 
out  with  us  also.  Generally  speaking,  his  feud  with 
the  parish  was  on  the  subject  of  oats  for  his  horse, 
which  never  appeared  to  be  delivered  in  sufficient 
quantities  to  satisfy  his  demands.  I  believe  the 
people  (for  the  Irish  are  ever  over-generous  to 
their  priests)  would  have  given  him  even  more 
than  he  asked  if  he  had  shown,  shall  I  say  more 
courtesy,  or  less  rudeness,  in  his  way  of  asking., 
His  sermons  usually  ended  with  the  happy  an- 
nouncement to  his  congregation  that  they  would 
be  damned,  and  damned  forever ;  and  the  people 
with  ready  wit  gave  him  the  appellation  of 


FATHER  J OFFENDED.  28l 

"damned  forever."  His  father  had  been  a  small, 
or,  as  the  Irish  call  it,  a  "  shoneen  landlord,"  a 
fact  on  which  he  prided  himself,  and  denounced 
the  "  Land  League  "  and  all  its  works  with  an 
acrimony  born  of  the  difficulty  of  collecting  his 
small  rents. 

It  is  usual  for  the  priest  to  have  his  breakfast 
after  Mass  in  the  convent  parlor,  and  in  most 
places  the  superioress,  who  is  obliged  to  pay 
special  deference  to  ecclesiastical  authority,  pre- 
sides on  the  occasion.  For  myself,  in  common 
with  many  other  reverend  mothers,  I  thought 
this  arrangement  a  terrible  nuisance.  It  occupied 
valuable  time  in  the  morning,  and  even  had  it  not 
done  so,  it  seemed  such  waste  of  time  to  talk 
platitudes  every  day,  when  one  had  to  think  of 
very  serious  matters. 

Delicate  in  health  as  I  was,  and  slowly  recover- 
ing from  an  attack  of  diphtheria,  I  was  quite  unfit 
to  rise  early  to  assist  at  Mass,  much  less  to  spend 
a  weary  hour  in  the  parlor  after. 

I  little  knew  until  afterwards  what  offence  I 
gave  by  not  doing  what  I  was  physically  unable 
to  perform.  Unhappily,  priests  rarely  ever  have 
any  consideration  for  ill  health  in  others,  and 
their  mode  of  life  and  early  training  makes  many 
of  them  unconsciously  selfish  as  well  as  imperious 
when  their  desires  are  not  complied  with.  This 


282  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

priest  was  one  of  this  class ;  everything  should 
give  way  to  his  comfort  and  convenience. 

I  did  not  like  to  send  one  of  the  younger  sisters 
to  him,  and,  in  fact,  it  never  occurred  to  me  that 
he  would  take  offence  until  long  afterwards. 

Sister  M was  not  slow  to  see  her  opportu- 
nity ;  she  had  determined  to  push  her  own  way, 
and  she  succeeded.  I  found  later  that  she  used  to 
spend  a  considerable  part  of  the  morning  with 
him,  and,  ill  in  bed  as  I  was,  it  was  hopeless  for 
me  to  interfere.  She  complained  to  him  of  every 
one  and  everything  in  the  convent,  and  he  was 
quite  ready  to  listen  to  her,  being  already  aggrieved 
on  his  own  account. 

She  interfered  not  only  with  the  priest,  but  with 
every  one  and  every  thing  in  the  convent,  and  es- 
pecially with  a  young  sister  who  was  a  distant 
relative  of  her  own,  and  who  is  now  one  of  the 
most  valued  members  of  our  community. 

One  day,  finding  myself  a  little  better  than 
usual,  I  went  to  the  convent  parlor  to  see  Father 

J ,  little  anticipating  the  storm  that  was  to 

come  on  my  hapless  head  ;  he  turned  on  me  with 
the  bitterest,  I  had  almost  said  the  fiercest,  lan- 
guage, told  me  that  I  neglected  my  office,  that  I 
had  remained  wilfully  from  Mass,  and  that  he  had 
"other  charges  to  make  against  me."  His  rage 
and  violence  were  terrible,  and,  in  my  weak  state, 


ATTACKED   BY  FATHER  J .  283 

caused  me  a  great  deal  of  suffering.  I  called  in 
one  of  the  sisters  who  was  passing  by  for  my  pro- 
tection, but  it  was  no  use ;  before  her  very_  face 
he  called  me  a  "perjurer  and  a  liar,"  and  for  what 
reason  to  this  day  I  do  not  know. 

I  quietly  took  out  a  pocket-book  and  began  to 
take  down  his  words,  and  said  I  should  report  the 
matter  to  the  archbishop,  but  he  only  laughed  a 
scornful,  bitter  laugh,  and  said  I  need  not  trouble 
to  do  that ;  every  one  knew  the  archbishop  was 
against  me,  and  that  he  never  would  allow  me  to 
finish  building  the  convent  at  Knock. 

The  archbishop,  who  should  have  been  my  pro- 
tector, treated  the  whole  matter  with  perfect 

indifference.  Father  J had  managed  to  get 

into  Father  Cavanagh's  good  graces,  and  the  arch- 
bishop was  only  too  thankful  to  leave  him  there, 
as  before  he  went  to  Knock  he  was  obliged  to 
move  him  frequently. 

Such  a  state  of  things  was  simply  abhorrent  to 
me.  I  had  always  wished  to  have  peace,  but 
I  was  not  to  be  allowed  to  have  it. 

I  asked  the  archbishop  again  and  again  to  hold 
a  visitation  in  the  convent,  and  to  investigate  the 
whole  matter.  This  he  refused  to  do,  although  it 
was  one  of  his  first  duties  as  a  bishop. 

Later,  I  found  that  Archdeacon  Cavanagh  had 
been  writing  to  him  also  against  us,  all  on  the 


284  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

reports  given  him  by  Sister  M .  But  the 

archbishop,  like  a  good  many  other  people,  wished 
to  keep  himself  out  of  trouble  if  he  could.  He 
was  afraid  of  Father  Cavanagh,  who  had  then  an 
immense  reputation  for  sanctity,  founded  on  the 
somewhat  illogical  conclusion  that  because  his 
parish  had  been  favored  with  an  apparition  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  he  himself,  though  he  had  not 
seen  it,  and  had  at  first  refused  to  believe  it,  jwas 
a  saint. 

At  Christmas,  1883,  we  had  a  retreat  given  by 
the  Rev.  Father  Columbian,  a  Passionist  Father, 
and  a  personal  friend  of  the  archbishop,  who 
assured  him,  both  by  letter  and  in  private  inter- 
view, that  he  had  never  given  a  retreat  to  sisters 
with  more  satisfaction,  and  that  he  found  religious 
observance  in  the  best  state. 

In  September,  1884,  we  had  another  retreat, 
given  by  the  Rev.  Father  Gaffney,  some  of  whose 
letters  will  be  found  in  the  appendix  ;  he  also  gave 
the  same  report  as  the  bishop ;  both  of  these 
men  were  skilled  in  giving  retreats,  and  in  study- 
ing the  conduct  of  religious  houses,  where  they 
went  for  that  purpose. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

MORE   DIFFICULTIES   AT  KNOCK. 

Archbishop  McEviHy's  Contradictions  —  Canon  Bourke  —  I  Stop  the 
Works  —  Father  Cavanagh  Claims  my  Funds  —  Visit  from  Rev. 
Dr.  Lynch,  Archbishop  of  Toronto  —  His  Approval  —  His  Letter 
to  his  Coadjutor  Bishop —  Appeals  to  Continue  the  Work  — 
Obstinacy  of  Archdeacon  Cavanagh  —  A  Pretended  Miracle  — 
The  Deaf  and  Dumb  Impostor  —  Letter  from  Canon  Bourke  — 
Dr.  McEviHy's  Excuse  —  Sister  M makes  Trouble. 

DR.  McEviLLY's  contradictory  way  of  acting 
made  it  very  difficult  to  work  under  him.  It  is 
obvious  that  no  work  can  be  carried  on  with  any 
hope  of  success  when  the  workers  are  blamed  one 
day  for  what  they  were  authorized  to  do  on  the 
previous  day.  I  shall  now  give  another  instance 
of  this. 

Archbishop  McEvilly  had  given  me  permission 
to  collect  for  Knock  convent  ;  in  fact,  he  had  given 
a  donation  at  the  time  himself,  and  urged  me  to 
exert  myself  in  every  way  to  get  subscriptions. 
Yet  when  Canon  Bourke  made  a  collection  for  us 
he  was  censured  severely  by  the  archbishop  for 
doing  it.  When  this  fact  was  known,  a  very 
amusing  correspondence  took  place  in  the  Dublin 
Freeman  s  Journal,  between  the  archbishop  and  the 

285 


286  THE  Nt7N  OF  KENMARE. 

priest.  The  archbishop  wanted  Canon  Bourke  to 
deny  that  he  (the  archbishop)  had  given  leave  to 
have  the  collection  made  for  me.  The  canon  was 
in  a  difficulty,  he  could  not  tell  an  untruth,  and  he 
did  not  know  how  to  act  so  as  to  satisfy  the  arch- 
bishop, so  he  wrote  a  rather  long  letter  in  the 
style  in  which  a  lawyer  would  speak  who  was 
compelled  to  apologize  for  calling  the  judge  a  liar, 
by  saying,  that  if  what  he  had  said  was  true,  he 
was  sorry  for  it. 

As  I  found  I  should  not  be  allowed,  either  by 
the  archbishop  or  Father  Cavanagh,  to  carry  out 
the  work  which  I  had  been  at  first  authorized  to 
do,  I  gave  notice  to  my  architect,  Mr.  Hague, 
and  to  my  builder,  Mr.  Clarence,  that  the  works 
should  be  stopped  at  once.  I  paid  Mr.  Clarence 
and  the  architect  for  all  the  work  done,  and  I 
hold  their  receipts  in  full  and  have  them  here  in 
America. 

I  certainly  was  not  going  to  complete  a  building 
which  I  should  not  be  allowed  to  occupy,  or  in- 
volve myself  and  the  sisters  in  difficulties  which 
we  might  not  be  able  to  meet.  No  matter  how  I 
have  been  misrepresented,  I  have  acted  conscien- 
tiously in  all  business  matters,  and  I  could  not  in 
conscience  make  more  appeals  for  money  to  finish 
the  building  under  these  painful  circumstances. 

I  found,  when  all  just  claims  were  satisfied,  that 


CLAIMING  MY  MOiVEY.  287 

there  only  remained  a  small  sum  to  my  credit  in 
the  bank,  and  the  sum  of  money  which  had  been 
placed  in  the  funds  for  the  support  of  the  convent. 
This  money  was  invested  in  the  name  of  Arch- 
bishop McEvilly  and  Father  Cavanagh,  as  well  as 
my  own,  and  I  could  not  have  supposed  when  this 
was  done  that  the  latter  could  have  thought  of 
claiming  it  for  himself  ?  In  fact  the  principal  part  - 
of  this  money,  funded  for  the  benefit  of  the  sisters, 
was  my  own  money  or  dowry,  as  it  is  calleds  in 
Ireland,  of  which  as  I  have  said,  the  Kenmare 
sisters  had  made  such  struggles,  shall  I  say  to 
deprive  or  to  defraud  me. 

Father  Cavanagh  knew  this  well  ;  he  knew  that 
the  money  which  was  invested  for  the  support  of 
the  sisters  could  not  be  used  for  any  other  pur- 
pose. Yet  with  that  curious  obtuseness  of  intel- 
lect which  has  caused  so  much  trouble,  he  actually 
claimed  the  money  for  himself,  for  the  purpose,  as 
he  said,  of  finishing  the  convent.  It  certainly  was 
a  curious  idea  to  think  that  he  could  claim  a  con- 
vent for  himself,  which  had  been  built  for  certain 
sisters  and  a  certain  community. 

I  now  began  to  see  one  of  the  objects  of  the  efforts 
which  were  made  to  drive  me  out  of  Knock.  A 
lady  who  visited  Knock  after  I  left  it,  told  me, 
that  Father  Cavanagh's  friends  had  great  trouble 
to  quiet  the  people,  and  only  did  so  partly,  by 


288  THE  NUN  Of   KENMARE. 

telling  them  that  other  sisters  would  soon  come 
and  finish  the  convent. 

I  knew  that  Father  Cavanagh  had  two  nieces 
who  had  been  largely  dowered  by  him  in  the  Sis- 
ters of  Mercy,  but  I  must  say  that  I  doubt  if  either 
one  of  them  would  have  been  guilty  of  such  an  in- 
justice as  to  occupy  a  convent  out  of  which  an- 
other community  had  been  driven. 

Amongst  those  who  visited  Knock  when  I  went 
there  first,  was  the  well-known  Archbishop  of 
Toronto,  Canada,  the  Most  Rev.  Dr.  Lynch.  He 
was  attracted  to  the  subject  of  the  Knock  appari- 
tions in  America,  and  when  he  found  that  I  was 
about  .to  open  an  industrial  institution,  he  most 
heartily  rejoiced  in  the  whole  arrangement ;  his 
large  mind  and  generous  heart  enabled  him  to 
realize  the  great  work  that  could  be  done  there 
for  the  poor,  and  he  determined  to  do  all  that  he 
could  to  help  it  forward.  In  the  month  of  June, 
1882,  I  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving  a  visit  from 
him  in  the  Claremorris  convent,  where  I  was  then 
staying. 

In  a  letter  which  he  wrote  to  his  coadjutor  bishop 
in  Canada,  he  says,  — 

"After  dinner  we  took  a  carriage  with  the  Very 
Rev.  Canon  Bourke,  and  two  lay  gentlemen,  friends 
of  mine,  and  drove  to  Knock,  about  six  miles  and  a 


LETTER  FROM  ARCHBISHOP  LYNCH. 


289 


half  distant.  Alas,  on  the  road  I  was  saddened  to 
death  at  seeing  a  number  of  cabins  deserted,  with 
the  doors  roughly  walled  up  with  cobble-stones. 
The  land  around  appeared  to  be  of  the  worst  kind, 
and  was  left  unfilled.  Nineteen  poor  families  were 
recently  evicted  from  these  miserable  cabins  and 
bad  land.  The  scene  of  desolation  was  most  op- 
pressing, and  the  more  so  when  we  considered  the 
sufferings  of  the  poor  former  inhabitants  of  these 
cabins.  I  visited  a  neat  wooden  cottage,  such  as 
you  would  see  in  America,  built  on  a  safe  piece  of 
ground  for  a  poor  evicted  family,  by  the  charity  of 
the  people  through  the  Ladies'  Land  League,  with- 
out whose  help  thousands  would  have  perished  of 
cold  and  starvation.  The  children  were  some  of 
the  most  graceful  and  beautiful  I  ever  saw.  They 
were  evicted  from  the  place  of  their  birth  and 
childish  happiness.  I  thought  that  it  was  a  most 
merciful  condescension  on  the  part  of  our  Immac- 
ulate Mother  to  appear  in  the  neighborhood  of 
such  a  place,,  and  to  give  the  patience  and  courage 
of  saints  ancf  martyrs  to  these  poor  people  who 
had  to  bear  a  cross  —  one  of  the  heaviest  that 
could  be  imposed  on  a  father,  mother,  and  children 
—  to  be  driven  from  their  homes  by  no  fault  of 
theirs,  but  because  in  the  mysterious  ways  of 
providence,  three  bad  harvests  had  deprived  them 
of  the  means  of  paying  their  rents.  I  have  been 
told  by  their  parish  priest  that  these  poor  people 
left  their  homes  as  quietly  as  saints,  resigned  .to 


290  THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

the  will  of  God,  but  praying  to  the  Holy  Mother 
for  patience  and  another  home. 

"With  a  heart  depressed  by  the  thought  of 
human  depravity,  and  consoled  in  turn  by  the 
thought  of  human  virtue,  and  praying  that  these 
poor  people  might  be  comforted  by  the  Almighty 
God  in  their  affliction,  we  approached  the  Church 
of  Knock. 

"  We  returned  to  Claremorris  the  same  evening, 
calling  at  the  convent,  near  Claremorris,  to  see  the 
good  nuns,  and  Sister  Mary  Francis  Clare,  for- 
merly the  '  Nun  of  Kenmare,'  who  resides  with 
them  until  she  can  build  a  convent  of  her  order  at 
Knock. 

"  Sister  Mary  Francis  Clare  is  collecting  funds 
for  her  new  convent,  and  is  awaiting  the  orders  of 
the  ecclesiastical  superiors  to  commence  the  work. 
We  have  sent  our  little  contribution  towards  the 
good  work  to  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam." 

Archbishop  Lynch  had  returned'  to  Toronto 
when  my  great  trouble  came,  but  he  did  not  for- 
sake me ;  through  Canon  Bourke  he  had  constant 
account  of  all  that  was  going  on,  and  of  all  difficul- 
ties. 

On  the  6th  of  February,  1884,  Canon  Bourke 
wrote  to  me  :  — 

"  I  send  you  a  letter  written  by  his  grace  of 
Toronto  to  me.  I  will  read  it  to  Father  Cava- 


FATHER    CAVANAGH'S  OBSTINACY. 


291 


nagh,  but  what  is  the  use ;  besides,  on  my  two 
visits  to  him  I  impressed  on  the  archdeacon  its 
very  motives,  and  the  results  which  his  grace  him- 
self forwarded  for  his  consideration." 

This  letter  made  a  most  powerful  appeal  to 
Archdeacon  Cavanagh  to  protect  us  from  annoy- 
ances and  to  allow  us  to  continue  our  work  in 
Knock.  He  (Dr.  Lynch)*  wrote  strongly  of  the 
injustice  with  which  I  was  treated,  and  still  more 
strongly  of  the  injustice  to  the  poor  in  depriving 
them  of  the  help  which  I  could  give  them.  He  said, 
even  had  I  been  guilty  of  any  serious  fault,  that  I 
should  still  have  been  encouraged  in  my  work ;  that 
I  had  already  done  so  much  for  the  church  and  for 
the  poor,  and  that  it  was  disgraceful  for  him  to  act 
towards  me  as  he  had  done.  He  finished  by  say- 
ing that  the  Irish  people  at  home  and  abroad, 
"  would  weep  over  my  leaving  Knock  as  Christ 
wept  over  Jerusalem." 

But  those  who  knew  Archdeacon  Cavanagh, 
knew  that  nothing  would  change  him,  and  that 
nothing  could  be  said  by  any  one  that  would  make 
the  slightest  difference  to  him.  Even  the  pope's 
approval  and  commendation  of  my  plans  was  not 
noticed  by  him.  As  to  the  miraculous  cures 
alleged  to  have  been  performed  at  Knock,  the 
more  absurd  were  the  stories  told  him,  the  more 


292 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


probable  did  they  seem  to  him,  and  -  the  more 
readily  they  were  accepted. 

This  was  the  cause  of  the  great  difficulty  which 
the  ecclesiastics  had  in  coming  to  any  decision 
about  the  miraculous  apparitions  at  Knock.  I, 
myself,  was  an  eyewitness  of  a  very  amusing 
instance  of  this  disposition  to  believe  what  he 
wished.  A  poor  woman  and  her  son  came  to 
Knock  with  great  expressions  of  piety ;  in  fact, 
her  piety  was  too  prominent  for  me.  She  said 
that  her  boy  had  been  born  deaf  and  dumb,  and 
declared  that  he  had  obtained  both  his  speech  and 
hearing  at  Knock ;  of  course  such  a  change  would 
have  been  a  wonderful  miracle,  so  I  quietly  set  to 
work  to  ascertain  the  facts  of  the  case. 

Certainly  the  boy,  when  urged  by  his  mother, 
would  say  a  few  words  in  an  imperfect  way ;  but 
certainly,  whatever  miracle  had  occurred,  he  had 
not  recovered  the  full  power  of  speech. 

I  soon  found,  also,  that  the  mother  was  making 
use  of  his  supposed  cure  as  an  excuse  for  getting 
money  from  the  pilgrims  ;  her  handclappings  and 
crys  about  the  "  Mother  of  God  "  were  evidently 
all  put  on  for  a  purpose.  The  case  was  one  of 
heartless  imposture.  I  got  proof  that  the  boy  had 
been  at  a  school  for  deaf  and  dumb  at  Cabra,  Dub- 
lin ;  I  wrote  there  to  make  inquiries.  I  received 
a  letter  from  one  of  the  brothers  by  return  mail 


LETTER   FROM  CANON  BOURKE. 


293 


saying  that  the  woman  was  a  regular  impostor  and 
had  been  a  great  nuisance  to  their  institution  ; 
that  the  boy  was  not  born  deaf,  but  had  been  born 
partly  dumb,  and  that  they  had  taken  him  for  a 
time  to  see  if  they  could  teach  him  to  speak  a 
little  plainly,  but  without  success,  and  whatever  he 
spoke  now  he  always  spoke,  no  less  and  no  more. 

Yet  poor  Father  Cavanagh,  though  I  showed 
him  the  letter  and  all  the  facts,  was  very  unwill- 
ing to  send  him  away  from  the  place,  and  said 
his  mother  "  was  a  chanty  "  and  why  should  peo- 
ple not  help  her.  I  do  not  think  he  was  quite 
pleased  with  my  actions  in  this  matter. 

On  the  3  ist  of  December  I  had  another  letter 
from  Canon  Bourke,  in  which  he  said,  speaking  of 
a  personal  friend,  — 

"  He  knows  something  of  what  you  suffered 
here,,  your  name  and  fame  will  long  be  defended 
by  some  of  us,  and  after  a  time,  by  most  people. 

Mr. had  hoped  to  have  realized  $6,000  for  you 

in  the  coming  year,  but  now  of  course,  he  will  do 
nothing.  God  help  the  poor,  they  have  suffered 
more  than  you  will,  for  where  can  they  expect  to 
find  such  a  friend  as  you  were  to  them." 

In  January  he  wrote  to  me  again,  — 

"  O,  it  is  terrible.  It  is  all  a  series  of  scheming 
by  which  people  are  lead  astray.  The  lies  told  of 


294 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


you  here  will  be  corrected  as  far  as  some  of  us 
can  do  so.  I  have  told  some  priests  and  some 
ladies  who  inquired  about  you  here,  the  true  ver- 
sion of  the  case.  I  also  told  the  Bishop  of , 

and  he  was  very  glad  to  hear  the  right  story." 

"  I  have  heard  a  good  deal  more  of  the  insults 
which  these  young  gentlemen  [the  sons  of  the 
person  from  whom  we  rented  the  house]  used 
towards  you  when  they  saw  or  met  you  on  your 
grounds.  My  dear  reverend  mother,  there  is  no 
use  in  fighting  with  silk  gloves  on  with  those  who 
tried  to  trample  you  to  the  ground  when  they  had 
you  under  their  power ;  it  is  your  business  to  get 
back  to  Knock  and  to  finish  it." 

It  was  easy  for  good  Canon  Bourke  to  say  this, 
but  how  was  I  to  contend  against  so  many  power- 
ful opposers. 

I  knew  that  one  priest  to  whom  I  was  greatly 
attached,  and  who  was  also  a  canon  of  the  diocese, 
knelt  before  the  altar  at  Knock  and  prayed  God 
that  he  might  see  me  back  there  again  before  he 
died.  But  alas,  his  prayer  was  not  heard,  and  he 
has  passed  to  that  land  of  eternal  peace. 

According  to  some  reports  in  the  public  press, 
agitation  has  been  more  active  in  the  west  and  in 
Kerry  than  in  any  other  part  of  Ireland.  If  the 
families  of  these  men  had  been  employed  in  indus- 
trial pursuits,  a  great  deal  of  crime  would  have 
been  prevented, 


FATHER    CAVANAGH'S  EXCUSES. 


295 


It  must  be  quite  evident  that,  in  order  to  jus- 
tify himself  before  the  public  for  obliging  me  to 
leave  Knock,  Archdeacon  Cavanagh  must  have  had 
some  apparently  valid  excuses..  The  excuses  were 
all  the  idle  tales  which  he  obtained  from  Sister 
M ,  and  which  he  reported  to  the  bishop. 

A  Protestant  gentleman  of  high  position  told 
me  that  Dr.  McEvilly  gave  as  his  reason  for  not 
interfering  in  affairs  at  Knock  when  he  ought  to 
have  done  so,  that  he  could  not  quarrel  with  Arch- 
deacon Cavanagh,  and  that  he  was  bound  in  duty 
to  support  Father  Cavanagh,  but  that  he  could 
not  speak  too  highly  of  my  capacity  for  work.  By 
law,  social  law,  moral  law  and  equity,  Archbishop 
McEvilly  was  bound  to  inquire  into  the  facts  so 
as  to  ascertain  for  himself  the  rights  of  the  ques- 
tion and  to  support  whoever  was  right. 

The  first  idea  I  got  of  how  matters  were  going 

wrong  about  Sister  M ,  was  one  day  when 

Father  Cavanagh  suggested  to  me  that  she  should 
be  made  a  choir  sister.  I  had  no  doubt  this  sug- 
gestion came  originally  from  herself.  He  said 
she  was  such  an  excellent  religious,  and  so  on. 

I  at  once  refused  to  take  any  part  in  this  matter. 
I  told  him  that,  according  to  the  rule  of  the  Poor 
Clares,  which  we  then  observed,  such  a  change 
could  not  be  made  without  a  special  brief  from  the 
Holy  See,  for  which  application  should  be  made 


296  THE  NUN  OF  KEAWARE. 

through  the  archbishop.  Like  many  other  peo- 
ple, Father  Cavanagh  was  very  apt  to  be  very  lax 
about  rules  when  he  wanted  changes,  and  very 
strict  about  anything  that  he  wished  observed. 
He  would  not  have  hesitated  for  a  moment  to 

have   made   Sister   M a  choir  sister  without 

leave  from  any  one,  though  the  poor  sister  could 
neither  read  nor  write,  and  it  was  strictly  against 
the  Poor  Clares  rule  to  make  such  a  change.  Her 
object  was  very  plain.  She  thought  if  she  was 
once  made  a  choir  sister  that  she  could  get  to  be 
superior,  which  was  all  she  desired. 

When  we  came  to  Knock  first,  Sister  M 's 

relations  with  Father  Cavanagh  were  anything 
but  friendly.  She  bitterly  resented  his  want  of 
thought  in  not  seeing  that  there  were  not  any 
provisions  for  us  on  our  arrival,  and  for  a  long 
time  she  would  scarcely  speak  to  him.  When  we 
were  going  to  move  to  the  house  from  the  stables, 
I  could  not  stop  her  from  talking  of  him  in  a  most 
contemptuous  way.  She  knew  the  immense  rent 
which  I  had  to  pay  his  friends,  and  she  knew 
also  that  he  did  all  he  could  for  them  to  increase 
it.  And,  when  the  affair  was  settled  and  I  was 
obliged  to  make  the  change,  no  matter  what  it 
cost,  she  made  herself  as  disagreeable  as  possible 
to  us  all,  and  would  not  assist  in  any  way  in  mov- 
ing our  things ;  but  spent  her  time  in  finding  fault 


AN  EXCELLENT  RELIGIOUS."' 


297 


with  Father  Cavanagh,  and  comparing  him  with 
other  priests  whom  she  said  would  not  have  been 
so  selfish. 

Her  change  of  opinion  was  remarkable,  and 
Father  Cavanagh  knew  well  all  about  the  way  she 
had  spoken  of  him,  and  all  the  trouble  she  had 
given  me  ;  but  when  she  turned  round  to  his  side, 
she  suddenly  became,  in  his  opinion,  an  excellent 
religious. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

KNOCK    CONTINUED. 

A  Pilgrim  House  Needed  —  Miserable  Condition  of  the  Place  —  A  Retreat 
from  Rev.  Father  Gaffney,  S.  J.  — His  Distress —  I  Ask  Leave  to  go 
to  Rome  —  Am  Refused — I  go  to  Dublin  —  Father  Gaffney  Brings  a 
Document  from  the  Archbishop  —  An  Extraordinary  Demand  —  To 
be  Signed  Unread  —  My  Refusal — My  Health  Failing — I  Ask 
Leave  to  go  to  England  to  see  Cardinal  Manning  —  Leave  Granted. 

ONE  of  my  objects  at  Knock,  and  a  very  impor- 
tant one,  was  the  building  of  a  house  for  pilgrims 
who  were  crowding  there  from  all  parts  of  the 
world,  and  for  whom  there  was  no  accommodation 
except  little  mud  cabins  of  the  most  miserable 
description.  But  I  was  not  prepared  for  the  oppo- 
sition which  the  proposal  to  do  this  most  neces- 
sary work  was  to  bring,  though  I  showed  Father 
Cavanagh  and  his  friends  that  it  would  benefit 
them  instead  of  being  an  injury. 

Knock  and  its  neighborhood  is,  perhaps,  the 
very  poorest  part  of  poor  Ireland.  A  letter  of  Dr. 
Lynch,  the  late  Archbishop  of  Toronto  which  has 
been  given, -will  show  how  much  he  was  affected 
by  the  poverty  of  the  people,  and  by  the  sad  sight 
of  so  many  roofless  houses.  For  myself,  I  can 
only  say  that  I  looked  at  them  with  a  feeling  of 
298 


DESTITUTION  AT  KNOCK. 


299 


insuperable  sadness.  A  few  inhabitants  of  the 
village  of  Knock,  if  village  it  could  be  called,  lived 
in  scattered  huts  or  hovels  of  the  very  poorest 
kind.  The  pilgrims  who  came  wanted  at  least  a 
night's  shelter,  no  matter  where ;  and  food,  no 
matter  how  plain.* 

It  need  scarcely  be  said  that  the  poor  people  of 
Knock  reaped  a  rich  harvest  from  the  apparition, 
and  reputed  sanctity  of  the  place  ;  fabulous  prices 
were  charged  for  everything,  and  from  very  neces- 
sity were  paid  for  food  or  shelter.  Later,  when 
the  apparition  came  to  be  known  in  England  and 
America,  thousands  came,  but  only  in  many  cases 

*  The  writer  of  a  government  report  says:  "  Where  should  the 
poorest  place  in  the  world  be  ?  The  world  is  a  very  big  place, 
and  even  vessels  which  steam  fifteen  knots  an  hour  at  the  meas- 
ured mile  take  a  good  many  days  to  circumnavigate  it.  Yet,  big 
as  it  is,  the  very  poorest  place  upon  its  habitable  area  has  been 
discovered  by  Captain  Spaight,  a  Government  inspector,  who, 
without  hesitation,  declares  it  to  be  the  Union  of  Swineford, 
County  Mayo.  The  deplorable  misery  and  poverty  there  to  be 
found  are  attributed  to  "  a  succession  of  bad  seasons,"  which  have 
left  the  people  without  clothes  and  bedding,  and  with  nothing  but 
the  huts  in  which  they  live.  The  only  covering  for  the  protection 
of  a  whole  family  from  the  chill,  damp  night  air  is  in  nine  cases 
out  of  ten  an  old  quilt  or  a  few  bags.  "  I  have  found,"  Captain 
Spaight  adds,  "  the  mother  and  children  sitting  on  the  mud  floor 
eating  the  small,  wet,  ill-grown  potatoes  off  the  floor,  with  a  little 
salt  and  nothing  else,  not  a  stool  or  a  plate  being  in  the  house. 
The  male  portion  of  the  population  are  away  all  the  summer,  and 
this  year  their  earnings  have  not  been  as  good  as  usual.  A  large 
portion  of  the  district  is  in  the  hands  of  middlemen,  there  being 
no  resident  landlords  or  gentlemen,  with  one  or  two  exceptions." 


300 


THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


to  be  utterly  disgusted  by  the  extortions  practised, 
and  by  the  conduct  of  some  of  the  people. 

The  want  of  proper  accommodation,  overcharges, 
and  the  gross  incivility  of  one  class  of  people  was 
preventing  numbers  from  coming.  But  selfishness 
reigned  supreme,  selfishness  gained  the  day,  and 
selfishness  has  ruined  the  poor. 

I  much  regret  I  have  not  kept  any  of  the  great 
number  of  letters  which  I  received  on  the  subject. 
Even  priests  wrote  to  me  from  America  to  beg  for 
the  sake  of  common  decency  that  I  would  try  to 
have  proper  accommodation  for  pilgrims,  but  it 
was  useless  to  contend  with  these  people,  they 
even  threatened  me  openly  to  go  to  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Tuam,  and  insist  that  he  should  put  a 
stop  to  my  plans.  When  I  found  so  much  op- 
position, I  gave  up  the  plan  of  the  pilgrim's 
house. 

I  have  a  number  of  letters  from  Canon  Bourke  on 
the  subject  of  Father  Cavanagh's  treatment  of  my- 
self and  the  sisters.  In  one  of  these,  dated 
August  7,  1884,  he  tells  me  that  Father  Cavanagh 
had  quite  fallen  out  with  him  because  he  had  tried 
to  protect  me  from  the  outrages  of  his  friends. 
A  New  York  gentleman,  who  had  been  staying 
for  some  time  in  Knock,  wrote  to  me,  — 

"  Your  solemn  declaration  on  any  subject  would 
have  no  weight  with  Father  Cavanagh  in  opposition 


A   LETTER  FROM  NEW   YORK'. 


301 


to  the  words  of  Sister  M .  When  I  spoke  about 

Mrs.  K 's  sons  singing  ribald  songs,  and  that 

I  often  noticed  smoking  in  the  room  beside  the 
chapel,  he  coolly  said,  '  They  were  not  in  that 
room,'  which  I  knew  was  false.  It  naturally  oc- 
curred to  me  that  now,  at  all  events,  he  had 
vouchsafed  one  act  of  justice  to  you.  But  no, 
Canon  Bourke  of  Claremorris  it  was  who  went  to 

Mrs.  K and  got  her  to  remove  her  young 

gentlemen  from  the  place  where  they  were  such  a 
nuisance.  Your  serenity  at  the  impudence  and 
insolence  of  these  people  astonished  me.  Months 
ago,  Canon  Bourke  wrote  to  me  that  he  had  gone  to 
Archdeacon  Cavanagh  in  your  interests,  but  the 
archdeacon  would  not  listen  to  him.  Taking  all 
t.his  in  connection  with  Father  John's  calling  you 
a  '  liar '  in  presence  of  the  community,  it  was  time 
for  you  to  fly  elsewhere. 

"  At  this  time  Dr.  McEvilly,  in  whom  you 
placed  implicit  confidence,  showed  what  he  really 
was.*  He  was  offered  a  chance  to  do  you  justice, 
and  allow  you  to  remain,  and  he  should  blame 
only  himself,  unless  he  can  blame  Cardinal  Mc- 
Cabe,  if  he  has  obliged  you  to  leave. 

"  When  I  visited  Dr.  McEvilly  at  Lisdoon- 
varna,  he  spoke  of  you  to  priests  who  were  in  com- 
pany with  him,  and  to  me,  in  a  highly  compli- 

^v 

*  Again  and  again  I  was  reproached  by  my  friends,  and  by 
some  of  his  own  priests,  with  confiding  too  much  in  Archbishop 
McEvilly,  and  assured  that  I  would  live  to  regret  it. 


302 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


mentary  tone,  alluding  to  your  great  faith,  your 
great  charity,  and  general  ability  in  business  mat- 
ters. Yet  in  the  very  next  month  he  allows  you 
to  be  assailed  in  this  way  and  villified." 

In  a  letter  dated  December  13,  1883,  the  same 
gentleman  alludes  to  the  subject  of  Father  John's 
conduct  towards  me.  He  says,  "  I  pray  God  the 
people  may  succeed  with  the  archbishop  in  getting 
rid  of  Father  John." 

On  the  loth  of  December,  1883,  I  received  the 
following  letter  from  the  same  person,  and  in  the 
appendix  to  this  work  two  letters  will  be  found 
which  were  addressed  by  him  to  Archbishop  Mc- 
Evilly  and  Archdeacon  Cavanagh,  expostulating 
with  them  for  the  way  in  which  they  were  acting 
towards  me.  This  gentleman's  right  to  interfere 
was  grounded  on  the  fact  that  he  had  collected 
large  sums  of  money  for  the  institution  at  Knock. 

If  I  were  to  give  extracts  from  all  the  letters  of 
those  who  visited  Knock,  and  who  were  eyewit- 
nesses of  my  difficulties,  it  would  only  weary  the 
reader. 

A  gentleman  wrote  to  me  at  this  time,  — 

"  I  came  back  from  an  interview  with  the  archdea- 
con, and  have  for  the  first  time  realized  the  appalling 
difficulties  you  have  met,  and  the  pleasure  which 
your  enemies  take  in  traducing  you." 


INVITED    TO  ENGLAND. 


3<>3 


A  priest^  came  to  visit  Knock ;  he  said  very 
little  to  me  while  he  was  there,  but  after  his 
return  to  England  he  asked  me  to  go  with  the 
sisters  to  his  parish  in  England,  where  he  would 
give  us  a  "  quiet  and  peaceful  home."  "  There 
are  plenty  of  Irish  girls  here,"  he  said,  "who  need 
you,  and  who  will  soon  build  a  convent  for  you." 
Still,  however,  I  tried  to  persevere  at  Knock, 
where  already  the  work  was  so  far  advanced,  and 
so  much  money  had  been  expended. 

I  may  mention  here  that  among  the  countless 
complaints  which  were  made  about  me,  one  was 
that  I  would  not  remain  for  any  length  of  time  in 
any  place,  and  was  always  wanting  to  change. 
Yet  I  remained  in  Kenmare  for  many  years  with- 
out moving,  or  wishing  to  move.  During  that 
time  two  sisters  who  had  been  many  years  professed 
left  it  and  returned  to  Newry  Convent,  and  there 
was  not  one  word  said  against  them.  Four  or  five 
sisters  went  to  Dublin  on  different  occasions,  at 
very  great  expense,  for  consultations  for  their 
health,  though  they  did  not  suffer  from  any  such 
serious  illness  as  mine. 

It  is  quite  true  that  after  I  left  Kenmare  I 
moved  frequently,  but  every  move  I  made  was  in 
obedience  to  ecclesiastical  superiors,  and  I  have 
their  written  desire  for  what  I  did. 

While  in   Knock   it  will   be   remembered    that 


304 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


I  was  sent  by  the  archbishop  himself  to  Newry 
Convent.  In  Dublin  I  was  put  out  oJ  Harold's 
Cross  Convent  by  Cardinal  McCabe,  and  obliged 
to  move  again. 

Again,  by  desire  of  Archbishop  McEvilly,  I  went 
to  Knock.  Then  he  ordered  me  from  there-to  Clare- 
morris  ;  then  he  sent  me  to  Cavan  on  business. 

While  I  was  in  Knock  I  was  obliged  to  go  to 
England  to  give  evidence  in  a  trial,  as  money  had 
been  collected  in  my  name  under  false  pretences. 
This  was  a  matter  about  which  there  was  no 
choice,  as  the  government  compelled  me  to  go, 
yet  I  did  not  do  so  without  the  archbishop's  writ- 
ten permission. 

I  became  so  dangerously  ill  after  my  return 
that  it  was  necessary  for  me  to  get  skilled  medical 
advice  ;  I  had  to  go  to  Dublin  for  that  purpose, 
and  I  have  in  my  possession  the  archbishop's 
directions  for  me  to  do  so. 

Finally,  I  was  obliged  to  leave  Knock  and 
eventually,  still  with  permission,  to  go  to  England. 

After  I  had  moved  with  the  sisters  to  England, 
I  was  obliged  to  go  to  Rome ;  this  was  another 
move  certainly,  but  it  was  made  in  obedience  to 
my  bishop. 

A  few  months  after  my  return  I  came  to  Amer- 
ica, very  much  against  my  own  will,  and  only  at 
the  positive  desire  of  my  bishop. 


REBUFFED   BY  CARDINAL   McCABE. 


305 


Since  I  have  been  in  America  I  have  never 
gone  anywhere  without  permission  from  my  eccle- 
siastical superior. 

Until  quite  recently  I  have  always  thought  that 
if  those  who  opposed  me  saw  the  documents  which 
I  have,  and  knew  how  unjust  their  accusations 
were,  that  they  would  at  once  make  some  restitu- 
tion for  the  wrongs  they  have  done  me.  I  know 
now  that  it  is  hopeless  to  expect  any  justice  from 
a  Roman  Catholic  bishop,  with  some  rare  excep- 
tions. 

When  I  went  to  Dublin  I  thought  it  would  be 
an  excellent  opportunity  to  try  and  see  Cardinal 
McCabe,  to  show  him  the  letters  of  Bishop  Hig- 
gins  and  Bishop  Leahy,  from  which  he  could  see 
that  I  had  been  treated  by  him  very  unjustly  when 
he  expelled  me  from  Harold's  Cross  Convent,  and 
that  I  had  done  nothing  wrong. 

I  therefore  wrote  to  Cardinal  McCabe  asking 
him  would  he  appoint  a  time  to  see  me.  I  re- 
ceived a  most  contemptuous  and  rude  reply,  in 
which  he  blamed  me  for  not  stopping  in  the  con- 
vent of  Harold's  Cross  ;  I  suppose  that  he  had  for- 
gotten how  he  had  put  me  out  of  it  a  few  months 
before.  I  wrote  to  him  again,  trying  to  conciliate 
him,  and  telling  him  my  object  in  wishing  to  see 
him.  He  replied,  curtly,  that  he  would  see  me, 
but  only  on  this  condition,  that  I  should  get  a 


THE  WUN  OF  KENMARE. 

•* 

letter  from  Archbishop  McEvilly  asking  him  to 
do  so. 

I  was  overjoyed  at  even  this  concession  ;  I  was 
always  so  sanguine  that  things  would  come  right 
if  these  bishops  would  only  look  into  them  for 
themselves,  and  not  judge  from  idle  rumors.  And 
now  I  thought  I  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  get 
the  letter.  I  wrote  at  once  to  Archbishop  Mc- 
Evilly, and  I  sent  Archbishop  McEvilly's  permis- 
sion for  me  to  visit  Dublin  to  Cardinal  McCabe. 
Happily,  however,  I  kept  a  copy,  as  he  refused  to 
return  me  the  original  document,  though  I  wrote 
for  it  more  than  once. 

Instead  of  the  letter,  from  which  I  hoped  so 
much,  I  received  a  despatch  from  Archbishop  Mc- 
Evilly, which  is  before  me  now,  in  these  words,  - 

"  For  best  reasons,  determined  long  since  to  give 
no  person  whomsoever  introductory  letters  to  per- 
sonage in  question  ;  sorry  to  refuse." 

The  simple  object  throughout  my  religious 
career  appears  to  have  been  for  my  accusers  not 
to  inquire  themselves,  nor  to  allow  any  one  to 
inquire  into  the  justice  of  their  accusations.  And 
if  there  was  the  least  chance  of  documents  or  state- 
ments being  brought  before  them  which  would 
justify  me,  they  refused  to  see  them. 

The  Holy  Father  was  more  easy  of  access  than 


FATHER   GAFFNEY'S  SYMPATHY. 


307 


any  of  his  subjects ;  but  even  his  approval  has 
been  of  no  avail. 

I  hoped  that  God  had  inspired  me  to  found  a 
new  religious  order,  and  the  priest  who  had  been 
my  confessor  for  so  many  years  encouraged  me  in 
the  idea.  In  September,  1884,  we  had  a  retreat 
from  an  experienced  and  learned  father,  the  Rev. 
Father  Gaffney,  S.  J. ;  to  this  priest  I  confided  all 
my  difficulties  and  troubles,  and,  as  his  letters  will 
show,  he  had  no  doubt  that  the  plan  of  my  new 
order  was  a  divine  inspiration,  and  he  was  greatly 
distressed  at  the  position  in  which  he  found  me 
placed.  So  deeply  did  he  feel  the  whole  matter, 
and  so  anxious  was  he  to  help  me  in  my  difficul- 
ties, that  he  told  me  he  would  go  to  Rome  with 
me,  himself,  if  the  archbishop  would  permit  it,  and 
if  his  superiors  sanctioned  it,  which  he  had  no 
doubt  they  would  do. 

I  begged  the  archbishop  several,  times  to  allow 
me  to  go  to  Rome,  but  he  refused.  In  fact,  he 
would  give  no  decision ;  if  he  had  said,  I  will  never 
allow  you  to  found  this  new  order,  I  should  have 
given  the  matter  up  at  once,  but  I  have  his  letters 
which  show  his  reply  was  always  the  same,  that 
"at  present"  he  could  not  allow  any  change.  I 
was  thus  placed  in  a  most  serious  difficulty.  What 
rule  was  I  to  follow  ?  What  rule  was  I  to  teach 
the  sisters  ?  How  was  I  to  train  the  novices  ? 


THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

Were  they  to  be  Poor  Clares,  or  were  they  to  be 
Sisters  of  Peace  ? 

I  was  by  no  means  the  first  foundress  of  a  new 
order  who  had  to  move  from  one  diocese  to  another 
before  she  could  find  rest  for  herself  and  her  com- 
munity, or  free  and  cordial  protection  in  her  work. 
Every  one  could  see  that  my  position  was  a  false 
one,  every  one  knew  it,  and  those  who  wished  to  do 
so  did  not  fail  to  avail  themselves  of  the  opposi- 
tion from  which  I  was  suffering.  I  doubt  if  on 
earth  there  was  a  more  broken-hearted  soul  than 
mine.  One  consolation  I  had,  and  that  was  in  the 
love  of  my  dear  sisters,  who  entirely  sympathized 
with  me  in  all  my  designs.  I  felt  now  that  mat- 
ters had  corne  to  a  crisis  and  that  I  must  make 
some  decided  move  myself. 

I  was  obliged  to  go  to  Dublin  to  consult  a  physi- 
cian, in  the  November  of  1883.  Dr.  McEvilly  was 
there  on  business  at  the  same  time,  and,  as  Father 
Gaffney  was  there  also,  I  begged  him  to  see  the 
archbishop  and  try  to  get  some  arrangement  made 
to  enable  us  to  continue  our  work  in  peace.  The 
result  was  that  after  a  few  hours,  Father  Gaffney 
came  to  me  with  a  document  which  he  said  he  had 
been  given  by  the  archbishop.  I  noticed  some- 
thing unusual  in  his  manner,  but  though  I  was 
very  ill,  and  lying  quite  prostrate  on  a  couch,  I 
was  so  full  of  joy  hoping  that  some  decision  had 


AN  AMAZING  DOCUMENT. 


309 


been  arrived  at,  that  I  was  not  in  as  much  doubt 
as  I  might  well  have  been,  considering  my  past 
experience.  I  held  out  my  hand  for  the  docu- 
ment, but  to  my  surprise,  Father  Gaffney  would 
not  give  it  to  me.  He  said  that  the  archbishop 
had  given  it  into  his  hands  with  positive  orders 
that  I  was  not  to  read  it  myself,  that  he  was  to 
read  it  for  me  (I  think  he  said  once  only),  and  that 
I  was  to  sign  it ;  but  on  no  account  was  I  to  be 
allowed  to  read  it  over,  or  even  see  it ;  he  was  to 
witness  my  signature,  and  then  take  it  back  to  Dr. 
McEvilly.  I  was  so  surprised  that  I  did  not  know 
what  to  say.  Father  Gaffney  began  to  read  it  for 
me ;  I  listened  to  the  end,  as  well  as  my  indignation 
would  allow  me,  then  I  asked  Father  Gaffney, 
"  Do  you  advise  me  to  sign  this  ? "  He  replied 
promptly,  "  Certainly  not,  but  I  could  not  refuse 
to  bring  it  to  you  when  the  archbishop  asked  me." 
I  cannot  remember  all  the  contents  of  this 
extraordinary  production,  but  I  remember  well  the 
principal  points :  I  was  to  bind  myself  to  finish  the 
convent  at  my  own  expense;  and  I  was  to  bind 
myself  never  to  speak  to  one  of  the  sisters,  or  go 
near  them,  as  a  mistress  of  novices  was  to  be  pro- 
vided for  them.  In  fact,  my  name  was  to  be  used 
to  establish  an  institution,  out  of  which  I  might 
be  cast  adrift  on  the  world  at  any  moment,  with- 
out warning  or  excuse,  and  in  which  I  was  to  be 


3io 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


merely  a  visitor  on  sufferance.  I  heard  afterwards 
that  the  archbishop  was  very  angry  because  I 
refused  to  sign  this  document,  and  of  course  this 
was  told  all  over  Dublin  and  probably  all  over 
America,  as  another  evidence  of  my  unwillingness 
to  submit  to  ecclesiastical  authority.  I  was  not 
without  a  suspicion  where  the  idea  originated  ;  it 
would  have  suited  the  Kenmare  sisters  very  well  to 
come  to  Knock  and  have  absolute  authority  there, 
and  avail  themselves  of  all  the  funds  I  might 
collect.  I  do  not  say  this  without  reason. 

I  knew  perfectly  well  also  that  the  sisters  who 
were  with  me  would  never  submit  to  such  a  regu- 
lation. 

I  doubt  if  any  other  ecclesiastical  authority  on 
earth  would  have  required  a  sister  to  put  her 
signature  to  such  a  document,  and  above  all  when 
she  had  not  been  allowed  to  read  it  over  quietly. 

If  the  archbishop  had  held  a  visitation  at  the  con- 
vent and  inquired  himself  into  what  was  supposed 
to  be  wrong,  it  would  have  been  quite  another 
matter.  But  he  heard  only  one  side  of  the  ques- 
tion, and  took  everything  for  granted.  I  have 
copies  of  a  number  of  letters  which  I  wrote  to 
him,  begging  him  to  hold  a  visitation,  but  he 
\vould  not. 

The  feast  of  Saint  Francis  Xavier,  the  great 
apostle  of  the  Indies,  was  fast  approaching.  I  was 


PERMISSION   TO   GO    TO  ENGLAND.         $n 

now,  the  doctor  feared,  in  a  dying  state,  as  his 
medical  certificate  will  show.  I  knew  not  which 
way  to  turn,  matters  seemed  more  unsettled  than 
ever. 

I  now  wrote  the  archbishop  a  respectful  letter, 
asking  him  again  would  he  not  allow  me  to  go  to 
England  to  see  Cardinal  Manning,  as  I  could 
neither  satisfy  him  nor  the  archdeacon,  nor  could 
I  remain  longer  at  the  mercy  of  so  many  people 
who  were  trying  to  prevent  the  completion  of  the 
building  at  Knock.*  My  condition  was  indeed 
unhappy,  except  for  the  affectionate  and  encourag- 
ing letters  of  the  sisters,  which  I  received  daily. 

I  prayed  again  to  Saint  Francis  Xavier,  and 
told  him  if  he  would  obtain  for  me  permission  to 
go  to  England,  I  would  call  the  first  convent  I 
founded  there,  the  convent  of  Saint  Francis.  To 
my  amazement,  within  five  minutes  after  I  had 
made  this  prayer,  I  received  a  letter  from  Arch- 
bishop McEvilly  written  certainly  in  the  most 
ungracious  terms,  but  still  giving  me  the  permis- 
sion to  go. 

I  sent  at  once  for  Father  Gaffney,  S.  J.,  and  for 
the  doctor  ;  they  both  advised  me  to  go  as  soon  as 

*  A  priest  who  had  given  us  a  retreat  a  few  weeks  before,  was 

an  eyewitness  to  the  annoyances  we  received  from  Mr.  K . 

whom  he  saw  several  times  outside  our  windows  in  such  a  state, 
that  he  advised  me  to  send  for  the  police. 


312 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


possible,  as  the  doctor  said  my  health  was  in  such 
a  state  that  even  if  I  should  die,  it  was  better  for 
me  to  die  going  to  England  than  to  die  as  I  was, 
and  that,  perhaps,  some  settlement  or  peace  of 
mind  would  help  my  recovery  more  than  anything 
else. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

I   GO   TO   ENGLAND. 

I  Reach  London  —  Visit  to  Cardinal  Manning  —  His  Cordial  Reception  — 
Call  on  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Bagshawe  —  Transferred  by  t  he  Archbishop  of 
Tuam  —  Father  Cavanagh's  Dislike  to  my  Work  —  Nature  of  my 
schools  —  An  Incapable  Teacher  —  Knock  Schools  —  A  Letter  — 
Petition  to  the  Archbishop  —  Letters  from  Michael  M.  Waldron, 
Canon  Bourke,  James  Rogers,  and  others. 

I  ARRIVED  in  London  in  the  middle  of  Decem- 
ber, and  was  received  with  the  utmost  kindness 
and  most  affectionate  charity  by  the  Sisters  of 
Mercy,  who,  being  under  His  Eminence  Cardinal 
Manning,  and  knowing  his  interest  in  my  work, 
received  me  very  cordially. 

I  went  to  Cardinal  Manning  as  soon  as  I  had 
rested  for  a  few  days,  and  told  him  all  my  trouble, 
finding  in  him,  what  he  always  had  been,  a  most 
sincere  friend  and  sympathizer.  I  showed  him 
the  letters  and  documents  which  I  had,  and  told 
him  fully  all  my  difficulties.  He  saw  at  once  that 
it  was  perfectly  impossible  for  me  to  try  to  con- 
tinue my  work  under  such  opposition.  He  said, 
"that  it  would  be  better  for  myself  and  the  sisters 
to  come  to  England  where,"  he  added,  "you  will 
find  plenty  of  work  to  do  for  the  poor  Irish  ;  you 

313 


314 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


are,  perhaps,  more  needed  here  than  in  Ireland." 
I  need  scarcely  say  that  a  bishop  of  his  prudence 
and  experience  would  not  have  encouraged  me, 
if  he  had  not  thought  that  I  deserved  encourage- 
ment, and  if  he  had  not  known  that  I  had  done 
nothing  which  could  have  merited  ecclesiastical 
censure. 

Cardinal  Manning  then  advised  me  to  go  direct 
to  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Bagshawe,  Bishop  of  Not- 
tingham, who  had  been  a  distinguished  mem- 
ber of  the  London  Oratory,  a  congregation  of 
priests  belonging  to  an  institution  founded  by 
Saint  Philip  Neri,  and  of  which  the  Paulist 
fathers  in  New  York  are  a  kind  of  imitation.  I 
was  received  most  cordially  by  Bishop  Bagshawe, 
and  he  most  gladly  accepted  us  at  once  for  his 
diocese. 

I  wrote  then  to  Archbishop  McEvilly  for  a 
canonical  transfer  of  myself  and  sisters  to  the 
Nottingham  diocese,  and  he  promptly  acceded  to 
my  request.  This  document  I  subjoin  here. 

"  TUAM,  December  26,  1883. 

"  DEAR  REV.  MOTHER  MARY  FRANCIS  CLARE, 
—  As  you  seem  to  think  you  can  better  promote 
the  great  work  you  contemplate  in  England  than 
at  Knock,  and  as  the  Most  Rev.  Dr.  Bagshawe, 
Bishop  of  Nottingham,  has  been  pleased,  as  ap- 
pears from  his  letter  which  you  forwarded  to  us, 


LETTER  OF  ARCHBISHOP 


to  receive  you  and  your  novices  into  his  diocese, 
we,  therefore,  yielding  to  your  earnest  desire  and 
entreaty,  release  you  by  these  presents  from  all 
obedience  due  to  us,  to  transfer  to  the  Most  Rev. 
Dr.  Bagshawe  all  the  jurisdiction  we  have  over  you. 
Wishing  you  and  yours  the  abundance  of  all  bless- 
ings, Your  faithful  servant  in  Christ, 

"  JOHN,  Archbishop  of  Tuam. 
"Given  at  Tuam  this  26th  day  of  December,  1883." 

It  will  be  observed  that  Archbishop  McEvilly 
says  in  his  letter  of  canonical  transfer  to  the  dio- 
cese of  Nottingham,  — 

"  As  you  seem  to  think  you  can  better  promote 
the  great  work  you  contemplate  in  England  than 
at  Knock,  etc."  Now  no  one  knew  better  than 
Archbishop  McEvilly,  that  I  thought  nothing  of 
the  kind,  but  the  expression  answered  admirably 
to  give  the  idea  that  I  had  left  of  my  own  free 
will.  I  left  because  neither  Archbishop  McEvilly 
nor  Father  Cavanagh  would  allow  us  to  carry 
on  the  great  work  which  he  had  once  so  much 
admired. 

As  for  Father  Cavanagh,  he  was  not  only  indif- 
ferent to  my  work,  but  he  actually  disliked  it.* 
So  long  as  Knock  was  crowded  with  pilgrims  who 
paid  honor  to  himself  and  to  the  shrine,  he  asked 
no  more.  As  for  doing  anything  to  promote  in- 

*  See  page,  330. 


316  THE  NUN  OF  KEN  MA  RE. 

dustrial  occupation,  or  to  help  the  poor  in  their 
struggle  for  life,  it  was  quite  out  of  his  way. 
Their  fathers  before  them  had  got  on  and  lived 
and  died  anyhow,  and  had  gone  to  heaven,  and 
they  could  do  the  same.  Certainly,  his  holy  indif- 
ference saved  him  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  and  I 
wish  I  could  have  imitated  it. 

It  must  be  said,  in  justice  to  him,  that  he  was 
equally  indifferent  to  his  own  surroundings.  He 
lived  at  that  time  in  a  poor  cabin,  his  fare  was  of 
the  very  plainest,  and,  except  where  the  needs  of 
his  relatives  were  concerned,  he  cared  very  little 
for  money. 

After  Knock  became  famous  for  its  apparitions, 
when  enormous  sums  of  money  were  sent  to  him, 
he  improved  the  old  church  a  little,  and  built  a 
large  and  very  curious  house  for  himself.  He 
still  talked,  as  if  in  a  dream,  about  a  community  of 
priests  which  he  intended  to  found,  and  who  he 
expected  would  live  there  with  him.  But  the 
priests,  who  knew  him  and  his  eccentric  ways, 
said  he  would  never  get  any  one  to  remain  with 
him  for  a  month. 

Although  I  had  not  been  able  to  begin  the  in- 
dustrial home  for  girls  on  a  large  scale,  I  had 
already  collected  a  number  of  young  girls  ;  and  I 
had  forty  in  regular  and  permanent  employment. 

The  house  which  we  rented  from  Father  Cava- 


THE  SCHOOL  AT  KNOCK. 


317 


nagh's  friends,  as  I  said  before,  at  such  cost,  was 
situated  on  a  very  high  hill,  and  fully  two  miles 
distant  from  any  school.  The  roads  in  winter 
were  almost  impassable  from  mud  and  dirt,  and 
in  summer  there  was  no  shade.  The  distance 
made  it  impossible  for  young  children  to  attend 
the  village  school ;  and  with  Father  Cavanagh's 
full  consent,  I  opened  a  school  at  once,  and  placed 
it,  as  all  Irish  convent  schools  are  placed,  under 
the  National  Board.  If  there  had  not  been  a 
necessity  and  an  urgent  necessity  for  a  school,  the 
National  Board  would  not  have  tolerated  it  for  a 
day.  It  was  a  great  success,  beyond  all  my  hopes, 
and  even  now  I  cannot  think  of  it  without  tears. 

I  formed  a  kindergarten,  and  the  dear,  bright, 
loving  little  ones  were  precious  to  my  heart  and 
soul ;  I  never  expect  to  see  such  sweet  children 
again.  Even  had  there  been  a  school  in  the  vil- 
lage, they  would  have  been  far  too  young  to  go 
to  it. 

In  addition  to  our  babies,  as  I  may  well  call 
them,  for  they  were  very  young,  there  were  a  few 
older  children,  who  for  various  reasons  could  not 
go  to  the  girls'  school  in  the  village,  and  with  the 
full  consent  of  the  mistress,  we  received  them 
also.  And  then  there  were  the  boys  ;  there  was 
certainly  a  boys'  school  in  'the  village,  but  the 
teacher  was  thoroughly  inefficient  and  incapable  of 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


managing  a  school.  He  was  so  lame  that  he  came 
to  school  on  a  donkey.  But  Father  Cavanagh, 
with  that  peculiar  tenacity  of  opinion,  which  some 
people  call  obstinacy,  would  not  hear  of  his  re- 
moval.* 

.  In  Ireland  the  inspectors  are  so  much  under  the 
control  of  the  priests,  that  they  dare  not  dismiss  a 
teacher  against  the  wish  of  the  priest,  and  the 
inspector  pleaded  in  vain  for  his  dismissal. 

Archbishop  McEvilly  certainly  recognized  that 
the  work  was  a  good  one,  if  he  had  only  had  the 
courage  to  help  me  to  carry  it  out.  But  I  did  not 
suspect  until  after  I  left  Knock  that  Father  Cava- 
nagh was  not  only  indifferent,  but  that  he  was 
actually  opposed  to  what  I  was  doing.  If  I  had 
known  this  sooner,  I  should  have  left  Knock  long 
before  I  did. 

The  National  Board  very  properly  requires  roll 
books  to  be  kept,  in  which  the  name,  age,  and 
date  of  entrance  of  every  pupil  is  entered,  and  it 
is  the  duty  of  the  inspector  to  see  that  this  is 
carefully  and  regularly  attended  to.  Therefore, 
even  had  I  wished  to  do  so,  I  could  not  have  taken 
children  from  other  schools  into  ours.  Yet  this  is 
precisely  what  Father  Cavanagh  accused  us  of, 

*  It  was  the  same  tenacity  which  made  him  keep  a  house- 
keeper whose  character  was  such  that  it  brought  a  perpetual 
scandal  on  the  place.  It  was  in  vaiu  that  his  brother  priests 
expostulated,  and  in  vain  that  the  archbishop  interfered. 


LAMENTATION  AT  KNOCK. 


319 


and  he  knew  I  took  particular  pains  not  to  do 
this. 

I  know  that  the  poor  people  in  Knock  deeply 
regret  our  departure.  An  urgent  petition  was 
sent  to  the  archbishop  entreating  him  to  bring 
the  sisters  back,  and  to  allow  their  work  to  con- 
tinue. As  soon  as  Archdeacon  Cavanagh  heard 
this  he  sent  for  the  people  principally  concerned, 
and  having  spoken  to  them,  ordered  them  out  of 
his  sight  for  having  presumed  to  send  in  such  a 
petition.  In  fact,  he  had  got  rid  of  us  and  did  not 
want  to  have  us  back,  and  said  so  very  plainly. 
It  seemed  to  matter  so  little  to  him  that  the  poor 
girls  were  left  to  grow  up  in  ignorance  and  in  need 
of  industrial  employment  and  training. 

A  lady  who  was  driving  from  Claremorris  to 
Knock  told  me  that  the  boy  who  drove  her  spoke 
of  our  leaving  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  and  said, 
"  It  was  the  archdeacon  and  Father  John  done  it, 
and  it  was  a  terrible  loss  to  the  whole  people." 
As  he  was  speaking,  an  outside  car  drove  by  with 
a  lady  on  it ;  he  said,  "  That  lady  will  have  a  fine 
fortune."  She  asked  who  was  it,  and  she  was  an- 
swered "  Miss ,"  a  near  relative  of  Father 

Cavanagh. 

The  following  letters  will  tell  the  rest  of  this 
painful  story.  Mr.  M.  Waldron,  who  keeps  a 
large  store  in  Ballyhaunis,  is  the  joint  trustee  for 


320 


THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


the    ruined    convent  with   myself   and  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Tuam. 

"KNOCK,  February  13,  1884. 
"  To  the  Editor  of  the  '  Tuam  Herald,'  — 

"  DEAR  SIR,  — My  attention  was  called  very  lately 
to  a  paragraph  which  appeared  from  a  correspon- 
dent in  your  paper,  to  the  effect  that  now,  as  sister 
Mary  Francis  Cusack  had  left  Knock,  and  was 
now  residing  in  the  diocese  of  Nottingham,  that 
the  children  of  this  parish  would  be  left  in  their 
normal  state  of  ignorance.  In  the  interests  of 
justice  and  fair  play,  I  must  say  that  in  very  few 
parishes  of  Ireland  are  there  more  schools,  or  more 
ably  conducted,  than  in  this  parish.  These  schools 
are  a  long  time  in  full  operation.  The  teachers 
are  all  most  zealous  in  the  performance  of  their 
duties.  The  children  of  the  numerous  schools 
(eleven)  of  the  parish  are  solidly  instructed  in 
their  religious  duties,  as  was  testified  to  by  His 
Grace,  the  Most  Reverend  Dr.  McEvilly,  the  illus- 
trious and  learned  archbishop  of  this  diocese,  on 
the  occasion  of  the  confirmation  held  in  Knock  not 
long  since. 

"  It  was  stated  in  your  paper  that  of  these  children 
who  frequented  the  convent  schools,  that  none  of 
them  were  ever  before  going  to  any  other  school. 
This,  allow  me  to  say,  was  untrue,  as  the  two 
school  inspectors,  on  the  occasion  of  a  visit  to  the 
convent  schools,  drove  thirty-four  pupils,  boys, 
from  that  school  who  were  decoyed  away  by  a  re- 


THE  ARCHDEACON'S  LETTER. 


321 


cruiting  sergeant,  to  whom  the  Nun  gave  twopence 
for  every  child  he  could  induce  to  go  to  her  school. 
"  Thus  a  great  wrong  was  done  to  the  teachers. 
As  the  result,  fees  would  be  and  were  lost  to  the 
Nuns,  and  this  in  violation  of  an  engagement 
entered  into  of  not  admitting  their  pupils. 

"  Yours  truly, 
"AN  INHABITANT  OF  KNOCK." 

When  I  came  to  know  that  this  "  Inhabitant  of 
Knock  "  was  no  other  than  Archdeacon  Cavanagh 
himself,  I  no  longer  wondered  at  the  opposition  I 
had  met  from  every  one  in  Knock. 

The  following  reply  was  written  by  the  very 
inspector  mentioned  by  Archdeacon  Cavanagh, 
and  as  he  was  present  on  the  occasion,  and  Arch- 
deacon Cavanagh  was  not,  he  had  the  best  right 
to  give  an  opinion.  I  must  say  if  I  had  not  seen 
this  letter  in  Father  Cavanagh's  own  handwriting, 
I  could  not  have  believed  that  even  he  could  have 
written  it.  I  have  the  original  letter  before  me  as 
I  write.  The  editor  of  the  paper  sent  it  to  me,  as 
I  positively  refused  to  believe  that  Archdeacon 
Cavanagh  could  have  written  it,  until  I  saw  his 
handwriting. 

As  the  charges  which  Archdeacon  Cavanagh 
makes  against  me  in  this  letter  are  so  serious,  I 
may  be  allowed  to  say  again  that  the  following 
letter  was  written  by  the  government  inspector. 


322 


THE  NUN  OF  A'ENMARE. 


Further,  I  should  say  that  we  still  have  the  books 
of  the  Knock  convent  schools,  and  a  glance  at  them 
will  show  at  once  that  every  one  of  Archdeacon 
Cavanaugh's  charges  against  us  were  false.  The 
books  of  the  schools  were  kept  by  one  of  the 
sisters  who  had  been  a  national  teacher  for  many 
years,  and  even  if  we  had  wished  to  take  children 
from  the  other  schools,  we  could  not  have  done  so, 
as  the  inspector  would  have  found  it  out  at  once. 
The  "  recruiting  sergeant  "  was  a  poor  little  boy 
of  ten  whom  I  employed  to  bring  the  very  little 
children  to  school  who  could  not  come  alone.  I 
was  very  careful  not  to  take  any  children  who  had 
been  going  to  any  other  schools.  The  false  charges 
made  against  us  by  Archdeacon  Cavanagh,  sad 
as  they  are,  show  how  little  he  cared  for  his  poor, 
and  how  little  he  knew  about  them.  The  object 
of  the  compliment  to  the  "  illustrious  and  learned  " 
archbishop  is  self-evident. 

KNOCK    SCHOOLS. 
"  To  the  Editor  of  the  '  Tuam  Herald,'— 

"  SIR,  —  The  letter  which  appeared  in  your  last 
issue  over  the  vague  pseudonym  of  '  An  Inhabi- 
tant of  Knock '  is  a  very  curious  production. 
The  animus  of  the  writer  is  too  plain  to  be  con- 
cealed, but,  apart  from  mean  malice,  I  regret  the 
writer  did  not  confine  himself  to  a  plain  statement 
of  facts,  and  not  give  to  the  public  a  tissue  of  low 


THE   INSPECTORS  REPLY. 


323 


lies  and  flagrant  falsehoods.  I  take  the  state- 
ments of  the  writer  seriatim  only  to  seriatim  con- 
tradict them,  — 

"  As  regards  his  first  statement  as  to  '  very 
few  parishes  in  Ireland  having  more  schools,'  this 
contrasts  markedly  with  the  undoubted  fact  that 
when  Sister  Clare  opened  her  school  at  Knock  she 
had  attending  it  between  seventy  and  one  hundred 
children,  who  were  going  to  no  other  school,  in 
this  well-appointed  parish,  which  will  require  a 
better  certificate  of  efficiency  than  this  nameless 
writer  can  give  it. 

"  All  the  present  schools  are,  in  my  opinion, 
overcrowded.  As  to  their  efficiency,  in  one  in- 
stance the  teacher  is  not  particularly  active,  being 
lame  and  old ;  another  is  in  jail !  Are  these 
evidences  of  efficiency  and  sufficiency  ? 

"  As  to  the  statement  of  the  teachers  being  zeal- 
ous, I  will  only  ask  the  writer  to  examine  and 
contrast  the  returns  of  result  fees  with  those  of 
other  adjoining  parishes. 

"As  to  the  raid  of  the  two  school  inspectors  who 
visited  the  Convent  School  and  drove  thirty-four 
boys  away,  I  have  yet  to  learn  upon  what  occasion 
this  invasion  occurred. 

"  I  am  aware  that  one  day  the  present  inspector, 
when  consulted  by  the  nun  as  to  the  advisability 
of  having  certain  grown  boys  at  her  school,  did 
turn  away  about  a  dozen  of  these  boys,  who  were 
sent  simply  because  they  were  too  old  for  an 


324 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


infant  school,  and  when  they  were  evicted  they 
showed  visibly  their  signs  of  regret  and  disap- 
pointment. From  this  little  incident  your  corre- 
spondent evidently  reared  up  his  stupendous 
superstructure  of  suppositions,  and,  in  character- 
izing his  statement,  I  must  use  your  correspond- 
ent's own  words,  and  say  that  '  it  was  untrue.' 

"And  notwithstanding  'the  decoying'  which 
this  zealous  nun  was  said  to  practise,  it  is,  I 
believe,  a  fact  that  there  were  never  a  larger  num- 
ber '  made  their  days '  at  the  ordinary  schools  than 
while  the  nun  was  there  and  the  Convent  School 
flourishing. 

"  I  attribute  this,  sir,  to  the  energy  her  bright 
example  gave,  and  the  contrasts  brought  out  in 
her  brief  sojourn  here. 

"And  still  more  strange  is  the  fact  that  the 
girls'  schools  showed  no  appreciable  falling  off. 

"  Thus  the  statement  as  to  the  consequent  wrong 
done  to  the  teachers  is  a  gross  fabrication,  and  an 
unjust  imputation  upon  a  devoted  religieuse  who 
was  absolutely  driven  from  Knock  by  every  species 
of  persecution  which  ingenuity  could  invent  and 
malice  perpetrate.  Yours  truly, 

"AUDI  ALTERAM  PARTEM." 

"  BALLYHAUNIS,  March  22,  1884. 

"  MY  DEAR  REV.  MOTHER,  —  Father  Cavanagh, 
I  understand,  is  delighted  with  the  imagination 
that  he  can  take  possession,  and  that  he  will  have 
no  trouble  raising  the  funds  to  finish  the  convent. 


OTHER  LETTERS. 


325 


"I  fear  these  ideas  are  'building  in  the  moon.' 
May  the  Lord,  in  his  mercy,  direct  and  assist  all 
those  who  are  laboring  under  the  false  delusions 
which  are  detrimental  to  our  religion  to  see  that 
such  a  difference  as  occurred  at  Knock  could  not 
be  amended  again  at  once,  particularly  when  it 
occurred  with  or  amongst  the  dignitaries  of  our 
once  persecuted  and  downtrodden  church.  Our 
enemies  again  would  be  so  delighted  to  have  such 
cases  as  Knock  to  throw  in  our  face,  but  God,  I 
hope,  will  set  all  these  matters  right. 

"  I  am  glad  you  find  your  mission  a  success.  I 
hope  the  business  you  refer  to  as  getting  settled 
will  be  Knock. 

"  Wishing  you  a  safe  return  and  a  long  life  to 
labor  in  the  interests  you  have  at  heart, 
"  Yours  very  faithfully, 

"MICHAEL  M.  WALDRON." 

"B ,  16— 11,  '82. 

"  DEAR  MADAM,  —  I  enclose  you  a  formal  inti- 
mation of 's  consent  to  grant  the  lease.  How- 
ever, I  explained  to  him  that  it  would  be  the  nuns 
that  would  suffer  by  refusal,  so  it  is  all  right 

again.     Mr.    says   that    Rev.   J.    Cavanagh's 

name  is  not  to  be  connected  with  the  lease,  which, 
I  daresay,  you  are  not  sorry  for,  as  he  appears  to 
be  very  overbearing.  I  think  I  shall  be  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Knock  next  week,  and,  if  so,  will 
run  up  to  see  you." 
(Signed) 


326       -  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

The  following  letter  from  Archbishop  Croke 
will  show  what  he  thought  of  the  persecution 
which  has  caused  me  so  much  suffering.  With 
regard  to  that  part  of  his  letter  in  which  he  ad- 
vises the  publication  of  my  correspondence  which 
would  show  that  I  was  entirely  blameless  in  regard 
to  all  the  charges  which  these  bishops  made 
against  me,  I  must  say  a  few  words.  I  think  that 
those  who  read  this  autobiography  will  see  for 
themselves  that  I  have  been  in  no  haste  to  publish 
it ;  I  so  long  hoped  against  hope  that  the  bishops 
would  spare  me  this  painful  necessity.  But  I  at 
last  learned  that  they  are  quite  indifferent  to  any- 
thing which  does  not  affect  their  own  immediate 
interests. 

When  I  found,  after  I  had  been  a  short  time  in 
America,  that  all  the  false  reports  which  had  been 
inquired  into  and  disapproved  before  the  sacred 
Council  of  Propaganda,  were  circulated,  if  they 
were  not  believed,  by  so  many  of  the  American 
bishops  that  the  people  naturally  supposed  that 
they  were  true,  I  saw  that  I  had  no  other  resource 
but  to  do  what  Archbishop  Croke  had  advised.  I 
hoped  when  the  American  bishops  saw  these 
documents  in  print,  and  knew  their  authenticity 
could  not  be  questioned,  that  respect  for  the  Holy 
See  would  make  them  silent,  so  I  published  a 
pamphlet  in  Philadelphia  containing  the  pope's 


PUBLISHING  MY  DOCUMENTS. 


327 


authorization  of  the  work  which  I  proposed  to  do, 
and  what  was  quite  as  important,  I  published  the 
notification  from  Propaganda,  stating  that  all  the 
reports  against  me  had  been  inquired  into  in 
Propaganda,  and  that  they  had  all  been  found 
false.  Such  a  document  ought  not  to  have  been 
necessary  for  any  loyal  son  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
church,  as  the  fact  of  the  pope's  having  authorized 
me  to  found  a  new  religious  order  should  have 
silenced  every  criticism.  It  is  certainly  a  reflection 
on  the  Holy  Father  to  circulate  evil  reports  of  one 
whom  he  honored  so  highly,  it  is  at  least  a  reflec- 
tion on  his  judgment  and  wisdom  in  a  very  impor- 
tant matter.  I  soon  found  that  the  publication  of 
these  documents  was  not  of  the  slightest  use. 
The  bishops  were  very  angry  with  me  because  I 
published  them,  but  they  never  tried  to  stop  these 
reports,  nor  did  they  cease  to  speak  falsely  of  me, 
and  they  allowed  their  priests  to  do  the  same  both 
in  public  and  private,  without  reproof. 

As  I  followed  the  archbishop's  advice,  by  publish- 
ing these  letters  "  privately,  and  for  the  bishops 
only,"  without  any  good  effect,  the  bishops  cannot 
blame  me  if  I  now  justify  the  Holy  Father's  action 
in  my  regard,  as  they  will 'not  do  it  themselves. 

It  would  occupy  considerable  and  unnecessary 
space  in  this  volume  if  I  gave  all  the  correspon- 
dence I  have  on  this  subject. 


328  THE  NUN  OF 

The  Irish  Bishop  who  first  started  the  report 
that  I  had  left  Kenmare  without  leave  was  so 
determined  to  believe  it,  no  matter  whether  it 
was  true  or  not,  that  Archbishop  Croke  wrote 
to  me  it  was  useless  to  send  him  documents  or 
proofs. 

If  people  wish  to  believe  what  is  not  true,  it  is 
their  own  affair  ;  it  is  so  with  some  of  the  bishops 
in  this  country.  They  had  all  the  evidence  before 
them,  but  for  some  reason  they  did  not  choose  to 
believe  it.  But  I  cannot  keep  other  people  in  the 
dark  who  have  a  right  to  know  the  truth,  and  who 
will  have  no  motive  for  refusing  to  believe  it. 
Archbishop  Croke's  advice  to  me  to  publish  my 
justification  is  contained  in  a  letter  dated,  — 

"  THE  PALACE  THURLES,  March  2,  188  . 
"  MY  DEAR  SISTER  CLARE,  —  All  right,  I  am 
delighted,  and  have  sent  a  crusher  to  the  Hierarch 
in  question.  I  think  the  publication  of  the  letters 
from  Dr.  Higgins,  Dr.  Leahy,  and  Dr.  McEvilly, 
for  private  circulation  amongst  the  bishops,  and 
nobody  else,  would  do  a  deal  of  good.  God  speed 
and  prosper  you.  Your  friend, 

"  T.  W.  CROKE. 
"  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE." 

The  following  is  Canon  Bourke's  advice  to  the 
same  effect,  — 


CANON  BOURSE'S  ADVICE. 


329 


"  CLAREMORRIS,  August  7,  1884. 

"  MY  DEAR  MOTHER,  M.  CLARE,  —  I  believe 
the  American  people  are  anxious  to  hear  why  you 
left  Knock.  I  believe  English  people  have  the 
same  feeling,  and  many  in  Ireland  ;  but  I  am  not 
in  a  position  to  offer  any  advice  myself.  Act  as 
you  deem  right,  and  tell  the  truth.  I  think  the 
Catholics  of  America  and  Australia  demand  it. 
That  would  bring  about  the  necessity  of  giving 
you  and  your  spiritual  children  that  convent  back, 
which  Americans  and  others  have  founded.  It 
was  brought  as  a  charge  against  me  that  I  had  a 
'  collection '  for  you.  He  threatened  to  inflict 
censure  for  that  act,  although  you  show  me  his 
letter  giving  you  liberty  to  ask  and  receive  from  us. 
"  Yours  in  Christ, 

"  ULICK  BOURKE." 

I  shall  now  give  a  brief  extract  from  a  letter, 
one  of  many,  in  which  I  was  reproached  with  over- 
confidence  in  Archbishop  McEvilly.  It  will  show 
how  far  I  was  from  being  troublesome  to  my 
ecclesiastical  superiors.  If  I  had  been  less  trust- 
ful, I  might  have  fared  better.  This  gentleman 
writes,  — 

"  As  to  Archbishop  McEvilly,  you  put  your 
whole  trust  in  him  only  to  be  doomed,  at  a  criti- 
cal moment,  to  bitter  disappointment.  As  to  the 
plan,  or  conspiracy,  which  drove  you  from  Knock, 


330  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

had  the  archbishop  been  what  you  took  him  to  be, 
or  inclined  to  render  a  just  and  impartial  decision, 
he  could  and  would  have  supported  you,  and  all 
annoyance  would  have  ceased.  The  archbishop, 
no  doubt,  stands  in  momentary  fright  lest  you 
should  tell  the  whole  world  the  history  of  your 
having  to  leave  Knock." 

In  a  letter  to  me  from  Archdeacon  Cavanagh, 
dated  Knock,  Feb.  18,  1884,  he  says, — 

"  You  have  been  stating  that  you  would  return 
to  Knock  if  I  wished  you  to  do  so ;  I  decline  to 
give  my  consent  to  your  returning  to  Knock.  In 
fact,  I  am  resolved,  for.  very  good  and  solid  rea- 
sons, that  you  and  your  novices,  or  professed  nuns, 
will  not  during  my  lifetime  return  to  this  place. 
"  I  remain  yours  very  faithfully, 

"BART'H  CAVANAGH,  P.  P." 

I  know  to  my  sorrow  that  people  have  thought 
that  I  had  refused  to  return  to  Knock ;  the  truth 
will  now  be  seen  by  all.  I  fear  that  Arch- 
deacon Cavanagh  or  his  friends  did  something 
more  than  hint  that  it  was  my  fault  that  the 
work  at  Knock  was  abandoned.  I  have  borne  the 
imputation  until  now,  because  I  knew  that  when  I 
spoke  I  should  say  all,  and  I  hoped  it  might  not 
be  necessary  for  me  to  do  so. 

Nor  was  I  the  only  person  to  whom  Archdeacon 


GRIEVOUS  HARM   TO    THE   CHURCH. 


331 


Cavanagh  gave  a  very  decided  and  even  angry 
refusal  to  a  request  for  our  return.  Both  priests 
and  people  tried  to  move  him  from  his  resolution  ; 
for  myself,  knowing  as  I  did,  his  character  and  the 
influences  by  which  he  was  surrounded,  I  had  not 
the  least  hope  that  he  would  change  his  determi- 
nation. The  only  person  who  could  have  had  any 
influence  with  him  was  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam, 
Dr.  McEvilly,  and  he  would  not  interfere.  A 
gentleman  who  lives  near  Knock  wrote  to  me 
March  6,  1884,  — 

"  I  know  you  will  travel  a  great  deal  before  you 
will  be  insulted  as  you  were  at  Knock  ;  you  know 
the  devil  must  have  some  weapon  to  undermine 
good  and  pious  works.  It  could  hardly  be  ex- 
pected that  such  good  works  would  succeed  with- 
out great  obstacles." 

Here  again  we  have  another  of  many  instances 
by  which  grievous  harm  is  done  to  the  Roman 
Catholic  church.  Roman  Catholic  ecclesiastics 
have  impressed  the  people  with  the  very  con- 
venient idea  that  they  are  not  to  be  blamed,  no 
matter  what  wrong  they  may  do  ;  so  the  "devil  " 
is  made  the  convenient  scapegoat.  The  claim  of 
priests  to  be  thus  excused  is  a  serious  danger  to 
the  Roman  Catholic  church.  Facts  cannot  be  hid- 
den as  they  were  in  earlier  ages.  People  know 


332 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


that  certain  evils  exist,  and  though  they  may  be 
silent  for  a  time,  the  existence  of  these  evils  is  not 
forgotten.  An  open,  honest  admission  of  the  evils 
in  the  church  would  go  far  to  lessen  them.  It 
would,  at  least,  save  the  church  the  awful  crime  of 
even  appearing  to  approve  evil  by  not  condemn- 
ing it. 

[SISTER  MARY  FRANCIS  CLARE  AND  THE  VENER- 
ABLE   ARCHDEACON    CAVANAGH.] 

"  308  EAST  BROADWAY,  NEW  YORK. 
"  To  the  Editor  of  the  '  Tuam  Herald,'  "  March  31.  1884. 

"  SIR,  —  I  request  you  will  have  the  goodness 
and  fairness  to  publish  the  inclosed  copy  of  a  let- 
ter I  sent  to  Archdeacon  Cavanagh,  P.  P.,  Knock. 
It  speaks  for  itself.  Yours  faithfully, 

(Copy)  "  JAMES  ROGERS." 

"  203  EAST  BROADWAY,  NEW  YORK, 
"  March  21,  1884. 

"  VERY  REV.  AND  DEAR  SIR,  —  So  mortifying 
to  me  is  the  deplorable  treatment  to  which  Rev. 
Mother  M.  Francis  Clare  has  been  subjected,  and 
the  provokingly  false  reports  circulated,  evidently 
to  injure  her  reputation,  that  I  feel  myself  obliged 
to  communicate  with  you. 

"  First  as  to  the  assertion  that  '  she  ran  away 
from  Knock,  deserting  her  duties  ;  that  she  robbed 
the  convent,  taking  with  her  the  contributions  sent 
solely  for  Knock,  to  be  controlled  by  you  and  not 
by  her.'  I  most  emphatically  wish  to  inform  you 


LETTER  FROM  JAMES  ROGERS.         333 

that  all  such  moneys  sent  from  here  were  sent  to 
HER  as  testimony  of  the  esteem  and  affection  in 
which  she  is  held  for  her  efforts  and  services  in 
behalf  of  the  Irish  poor  and  oppressed,  and  in  the 
interest  of  religion  and  nationality ;  such  moneys 
to  be  distributed  by  her  in  the  relief  and  education 
of  the  Irish  poor,  or  otherwise,  in  the  interests  of 
religion  and  charity  as  she  might  think  fit.  If 
testimony,  by  most  respectable  persons  in  Amer- 
ica, in  proof  of  this  assertion,  by  you  will  be  re- 
quired, I  can  easily  send  it.  It  is  sufficient  to 
satisfy  the  public,  and  all  concerned,  except  of 
course  her  persecutors  and  calumniators,  whom 
nothing  would  satisfy  except  her  persecution  even 
to  exile  and,  as  it  would  seem  at  any  cost,  even  at 
the  cost  of  her  life.  As  to  the  conspiracy,  so  de- 
termined, so  scandalous,  and  so  un-Catholic,  which 
was  planned  against  her,  I  will  here  avoid  alluding 
to  it  in  detail,  merely  remarking  as  regards  its  malice 
against  the  welfare  of  Catholicity  in  Ireland,  but 
more  particularly  against  the  poor,  despised,  op- 
pressed and  exterminated  Catholics  around  Knock, 
that  it  might  be  naturally  alleged  by  any  Irishman 
or  Irishwoman  who  has  preserved  the  faith  of 
Saint  Patrick  and  Saint  Bridget,  that  its  concep- 
tion was  indeed  infernal.  But  I  will  say  in  con- 
clusion that  unless  reparation  be  made  both  for 
the  wrongs  and  the  scandalously  lying  reports  per- 
petrated, a  full  and  true  account  shall  be  given  to 
the  public,  indeed  to  the  world,  so  that  all  may  be 


334 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


in  possession  of  the  truth,  and  may  judge  for 
themselves  as  to  the  motives.  Merciful  God ! 
How  is  it  that  by  a  sense  of  duty  and  justice  I  find 
myself  compelled  to  write  such  a  letter  as  this, 
especially  to  you.  I  could  not,  indeed,  as  a  Cath- 
olic, trust  to  my  accurate  memory,  nor  to  my 
reason,  as  regards  the  shocking  doings  at  Knock 
while  I  was  there  last  July  to  September,  were  it 
not  that  other  strangers  who  happened  to  be  there, 
including  priests,  partly  learned  of  these  doings 
also.  I  remain,  very  rev.  and  dear  sir, 

"  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

"  JAMES  ROGERS. 
"  VENERABLE  ARCHDEACON  CAVANAGH,  P.P.,  Knock,  Ireland." 

The  following  letter  which  is  one  of  many 
received  by  me,  will  show  the  object  for  which 
money  was  sent  to  me  to  Knock. 

"  YASS,  NEW  SOUTH  WALES,  AUSTRALIA, 
"  February  28,  1884. 

"  DEAR  SISTER,  —  Having  noticed  in  one  of  our 
Australian  journals  your  very  zealous  appeal  for 
'funds'  to  enable  you  to  erect  a  'knitting  fac- 
tory '  for  the  very  laudable,  noble,  and  combined 
objects  of  rescuing  from  starvation  numbers  of  the 
poor  children  of  Mayo,  and  teaching  them  how  to 
become  respectable  and  religious  members  of  so- 
ciety, by  placing  in  their  own  hands  the  means 
of  earning  their  own  livelihood,  I  endeavored  to 
collect  a  few  pounds  as  per  enclosed  list,  and  there- 


LETTER  FROM  MICHAEL   CO  EN.  335 

with    forward   you  a  bank  draft  for  the  sum  of 
twenty  pounds  for  the  above  object. 

"  Your  name,  dear  sister,  has  been  associated 
during  the  past  half  century  with  many  grand  and 
noble  objects  and  works  to  alleviate  the  distress 
and  misery  under  which  our  unhappy  country  has 
labored,  but  your  present  one,  I  believe  the 
noblest  and  grandest  one  of  all.  I  trust  the  Al- 
mighty God  may  spare  you  to  witness  the  results 
of  your  noble  efforts,  and  to  further  indicate,  — 
as  has  been  your  wont  —  the  character  at  home 
and  abroad  of  the  children  of  our  bleeding  country. 

"  The  following  are  the  names  of  the  contribu- 
tors, and  the  amounts  given  by  each.  The  names 
of  all  the  Catholics  are  marked  by  an  X. 

"  Soliciting  your  prayers   at  the  shrine  of  our 
Immaculate  Lady  at  Knock  for  all  the  contribu- 
tors, and  especially  for  myself,  wife,  and  children, 
"  I  remain,  dear  sister,  your  obedient  child, 

"  MICHAEL  COEN. 

"  P.  S.  The  draft  is  made  out  in  the  name  of 
'  The  Nun  of  Kenmare.'  " 

It  will  now  be  seen  that  from  the  very  moment 
in  which  I  left  Kenmare  to  the  present  hour,  I 
have  never  taken  one  single  step  without  the 
written  permission  of  my  ecclesiastical  superiors. 

I  must  now  return  to  the  sisters  whom  I  had 
left  at  Knock.  God  alone  knows  the  grief  and 


336  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

sorrow  with  which  they  began  the  necessary 
arrangements  for  following  me  to  England ;  and 
their  greatest  trouble,  as  might  be  expected,  came 
from  Sister  M . 

I  often  told  her  when  she  was  making  so  many 
complaints,  and  trying  to  make  every  one  unhappy, 
and  carrying  idle  stories  to  Father  Cavanagh  and 
his  curate,  that  she  would  not  stop  until  she  had 
broken  up  the  Knock  foundation.  Of  course  the 
poor  soul  was  too  inexperienced  and  too  ignorant 
to  realize  the  mischief  she  was  doing  until  it  was 
actually  done ;  then,  indeed,  it  came  like  a 
thunderclap  on  herself.  She  was  sure  that  she 
could  have  remained  and  would  have  been  allowed 
by  Father  Cavanagh  to  form  a  community  of  her 
own,  and  rule  everything  and  every  one  as  she 
pleased.  Of  course  so  wild  an  idea  could  only 
have  been  entertained  by  an  ignorant  and  un- 
educated person. 

Her  anger  and  her  amazement  were  unbounded 
when  she  found  the  convent  was  actually  broken 
up,  that  we  were  all  leaving,  and  that  she  must  go 
back  to  Cavan.  And  bitter,  indeed,  were  her 
denunciations  of  the  priests  who,  she  was  led  to 
expect,  had  such  high  ideas  of  her  sanctity  that 
they  would  never  allow  her  to  leave. 

She  had  complained  to  me  again  and  again  of 
some  of  the  sisters  at  Cavan,  who,  she  said,  were 


SfSTER   M SENT  BACK. 


337 


far  too  strict,  because  they  would  not  let  her  talk 
at  all  times  and  in  all  places ;  and,  in  fact,  kept 
her  in  her  place,  as  is  usually  done  with  lay  sisters. 
I  had  now  to  write  to  tell  the  sisters  to  prepare 
to  follow  me,  and  that  she  must  leave. 

Sister  M at  once  refused  to  leave  Knock, 

and  it  was  not  until  she  saw  every  one  preparing 
to  go  away  that  she  could  be  induced  even  to  think 
of  it.  A  letter  to  me  from  one  of  the  sisters  will 
explain  the  state  of  affairs,  which  I  would  gladly 
pass  over  without  going  into  further  details. 

As  Sister  M could  not  read,  I  was  obliged 

to  inclose  a  letter  for  her  to  one  of  the  sisters, 
telling  her  she  must  return  to  Cavan  as  we  were 
all  leaving  Knock,  and  that  I  would,  of  course, 
pay  all  expenses  and  send  some  one  with  her  to 
her  destination. 

The  poor  soul  then  realized  for  the  first  time 
what  she  had  done.  The  sister  whom  I  had  left 
in  charge  wrote  to  me,  Dec.  27,  1883,  — 

"  MY  DEAREST  REVEREND  MOTHER,  —  I  received 
your  dear  letter  this  morning,  and  tried  to  read 

your  inclosure   for  Sister  M ,  but   she  would 

not  listen  to  me  and  ran  away  out  of  the  room. 
My  only  hope  is  that  Father  Cavanagh  will  advise 
her  to  go  quietly,  but  I  fear  he  will  not,  after  all 
the  encouragement  he  has  given  her.  It  is  too 
bad  now  that  she  will  not  try  to  calm  her  mind. 


338 


THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


She  had  a  long  interview  this  morning  with  Father 

J ,  and  I  know  she  clings  to  the  idea  that  she 

will  be  kept  here  by  herself. 

"  Father  Cavanagh  came  here  during  the  day 
and  began  to  praise  her  to  me  as  a  good  religious  ; 
she  commenced  all  the  old  complaints  again,  say- 
ing the  rule  was  not  read.  I  turned  to  Father 
Cavanagh  and  told  him  the  rule  was  read  and 
kept  by  every  one  in  the  house  but  her;  and  that 
this  was  another  of  her  many  falsehoods,  and  she 

knew  it.     Sister  M.  J ,  who  was  present  also, 

could  contain  herself  no  longer,  and  turning  to 
Father  Cavanagh  she  exclaimed  :  '  Sister  Martha 
does  well  to  be  so  scrupulous  when  she  has 
driven  a  whole  community  out  of  Knock.'" 

I  should  say  here  that  the  poor  sister  dictated 
a  letter  which  the  Bishop  of  Cavan  wrote  for  her, 
retracting  all  the  charges  she  had  made  against  us 
while  she  was  in  Knock,  and  that  he  wrote  to  me 
saying  how  much  he  regretted  I  should  have  been 
troubled  by  such  a  person. 

I  must  say,  however,  that  though  I  could  not 
but  feel  gratified  by  Bishop  Conaty's  kindness  and 

sympathy,  I  set  very  little  value  on  Sister  M s 

retraction  of  her  charges  against  the  sisters  and 
myself.  Persons  of  her  class  will  make  charges 
one  day,  and  retract  them  the  next  without  any 
deliberate  intention  of  being  untruthful.  The 


LETTERS  FROM  SISTERS. 


339 


blame  lies  with  those  who  encourage  them  and  do 
not  care  to  sift  the  value  of  evidence. 

Another  sister  wrote  to  me,  — 

"  I  told  Father.  Cavanagh  that  we  had  all  copies 
of  our  rule ;  I  also  told  him  I  would  not  stay  in 
the  room  to  hear  you  calumniated.  I  will  tell  you 
of  other  things  she  said  when  I  see  you.  We  all 
know  that  if  the  archbishop  would  say  one  word  it 
would  set  it  all  right." 

Another  sister  wrote,  — 

"  We  can  do  nothing  with   Sister  M ,  she 

says  she  will  stay  here  until  she  dies,  and  I  fear 
Father  John  has  buoyed  her  up  with  the  hope  of 
being  '  Mother  Superior.'  " 

She  had  some  really  good  qualities,  and  if  left  in 
her  own  place  would  have  been  a  valuable  sister  in 
any  religious  house  ;  but  her  head  was  not  able  to 
stand  all  the  flattery  that  was  shown  her  by  con- 
sulting her  and  asking  her  opinion  about  matters 
which  were  no  affair  of  hers. 

At  last  Father  Cavanagh  told  Sister  M 

she  must  go  back  to  Cavan,  as  even  he  saw  that 
she  could  not  remain  in  Knock  by  herself. 

There  was  no  end  to  the  excuses  and  difficulties 
she  made,  and  though  she  had  found  so  much 
fault  with  me  and  with  all  the  sisters,  she  was 


340 


THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


very  anxious  to  come  with  us  to  England ;  an 
arrangement  which  I  would  not  hear  of  for  one 
moment,  as  we  were  only  too  thankful  to  be  rid  of 
her,  and  I  knew  if  she  found  encouragement  that 
she  would  undoubtedly  have  begun  the  same  mis- 
chievous work  over  again.  Besides  this,  I  had 
received  a  letter  from  the  superioress  of  Cavan 
Convent,  to  whom  I  wrote  when  I  at  last  realized 
the  harm  she  was  doing,  who  told  me  that  they 
always  had  had  trouble  with  her  from  her  propen- 
sity to  interfere  in  other  people's  affairs. 

When  it  was  actually  known  that  we  were  going 
from  the  place,  it  was  of  course  written  about  in 
the  papers,  and  it  was  a  terrible  blow  to  Father 
Cavanagh  to  find  every  one  complaining  of  what 
he  had  done.  The  following  article  appeared  in 
the  Tuam  Herald,  — 

"  Sister  Mary  Clare  has  left  Knock  for  Great 
Grimsby,  gone  from  Ireland  to  England  !  Owing 
to  circumstances  which  impelled  the  course,  she 
was  most  unwillingly  forced  to  remove  the  seat  of 
her  patriotic  and  ardent  labors  to  a  more  conge- 
nial sphere.  The  new  convent,  nearly  complete, 
is  now  left  as  it  stood,  and  the  hundred  children 
who  daily  attended  the  schools  are  permitted 
to  relapse  into  normal  ignorance.  We  all  here 
regret  the  departure  of  this  good-working  and 
noble  woman  who  was  doing  so  much  to  raise 


THE    TRIUMPH  OF  EVIL.  341 

us  intellectually  and  materially,  but  whose  efforts 
are  frustrated  and  foiled." 


I  had  kept  the  difficulty  between  myself,  the 
archbishop,  and  Father  Cavanagh  so  quiet  that, 
with  the  exception  of  Canon  Bourke  and  one  or 
two  priests  in  the  neighborhood,  no  one  knew  the 
real  state  of  the  case  ;  and  of  course  it  was  the 
interest  of  those  who  had  driven  us  out  of  Knock 
to  make  it  appear  that  we  had  left  of  our  own 
accord  and  as  a  mere  caprice.  All  the  old  stories 
were  carefully  got  up  again  and  circulated  every- 
where. It  was  said  that  I  would  not  "  obey  my 
bishop,"  that  I  quarrelled  with  Father  Cavanagh. 
It  did  not  in  the  least  matter  whether  these  state- 
ments were  true  or  false,  they  were  said  all  the 
same  and  answered  the  purpose  for  which  they 
were  intended. 

Evil,  with  rare  exceptions,  seems  to  triumph  in 
this  world.  Those  who  considered  themselves 
authorized  "to  hunt  me  down"  had  now  a  full 
opportunity  of  doing  so.  I  had  left  Knock  and 
gone  to  England,  I  was  restless,  I  was  hard  to 
please,  I  was  wandering  about  the  world,  I  wanted 
change,  and  so  on  through  the  whole  litany  of 
absurdity  and  untruth.  So  careful  had  I  been 
indeed  to  screen  those  of  whom  I  had  better  have 
spoken  openly,  that  a  gentleman,  a  personal  friend, 


342 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


when  he  heard  of  it  exclaimed,  "  My  God,  why  did 
you  never  say  one  word  of  all  this  to  me,  I  never 
even  suspected  that  you  were  treated  so  cruelly." 
I  must  give  yet  another  extract  from  the  sisters' 
letters  at  this  time,  — 

"We  are  so  happy  to  get  your  dear  letters, 
though  they  made  us  sad  to  think  all  you  were 
suffering  for  God ;  but  oh  !  dearest  mother,  how 
abundantly  he  will  reward  you  for  it !  Think  of 
that  happiness  and  it  will  draw  you  to  Him. 
Surely  the  cross  could  hardly  be  harder,  but  as 
you  have  often  told  us,  the  more  we  surfer  in  this 
world  the  more  glorious  will  be  our  crown  for  all 
eternity.  I  wish  it  were  in  my  power  to  comfort 
you.  Our  own  dearest  mother,  God  alone  can 
give  you  the  strength  you  so  much  require  in  this 
terrible  affliction,  and  we  are  praying  for  you  day 
and  night  before  the  tabernacle,  and  praying  es- 
pecially for  the  recovery  of  your  health. 

"  I  always  doubted  Father  Cavanagh's  protesta- 
tions of  friendship  since  the  evening  I  heard  him 
speak  so  uncharitably  and  disrespectfully  of  you. 
In  fact,  dear  mother,  do  not  be  uneasy  about  his 
friendship ;  it  is  not  worth  having,  as  it  is  so  false. 

"  Do  keep  Miss  D as  long  as  you  can,  for 

we  know  how  you  need  her.  Do  not  be  anxious 
about  business  or  letters  ;  Sister  M.  J.  and  Sister 
M.  E.  are  attending  to  them  most  carefully.  We 
are  trying  to  keep  up  regular  observance." 


LETTER   FROM   CANON  BOURKE. 


343 


The  dear  sisters  knew  that  nothing  would  please 
me  better  than  these  last  words.  Whatever  has 
happened,  and  whatever  troubles  we  were  under, 
the  rules  have  been  faithfully  kept,  the  office  reg- 
ularly said  in  choir,  the  meditation  made  twice 
daily,  and  silence  observed.  We  have  had  retreats 
given  to  us  in  Jersey  City  by  several  priests, 
amongst  others  by  the  Rev.  Father  Dealy,  S.  J., 
and  all  have  had  the  same  commendation  for  the 
sisters. 

I  will  now  give  some  of  my  correspondence  in 
connection  with  this  matter.  I  give  first  a  few 
extracts  from  letters  of  Canon  Bourke  to  me. 
As  he  lived  within  four  miles  of  Knock,  he  was 
fully  informed  of  all  my  troubles  from  personal 
investigation. 

In  one  dated  Feb.  6,  1884,  he  says,  — 

"  MY  DEAR  MOTHER  M.  F.  CLARE,  —  I  send  you 
a  friendly  letter  written  by  His  Grace  of  Toronto 
to  me,  in  order  to  read  for  Father  Cavanagh.  But 
what  use  Aleajacta  est.  Besides,  in  my  two  visits 
to  him,  I  impressed  upon  the  archdeacon  the  very 
motives  and  results  which  his  grace  puts  forward 
for  his  consideration.  His  grace  writes  to  myself 
another  long  and  friendly  letter.  He  tells  me  that 
the  poor  immigrants  to  the  Dominion,  during  the 
past  year  have  in  the  winter  suffered  terribly,  and 
but  for  the  help  rendered  by  the  St.  Vincent  de  Paul 


344 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


Society,  many  of  our  poor  Irish  people  would  have 
perished  from  hunger  and  cold.  These  are  the 
emigrants  who  left  these  shores  for  Canada  during 
the  spring  and  summer  of  1883.  There  was  a  great 
banquet  given  lately  in  honor  of  the  Governor- 
General,  Lord  Lansdowne,  but  his  grace,  though 
invited,  did  not  attend,  because  the  poor  and  suf- 
fering exiles  were,  perhaps,  not  a  few  from  the 
Irish  estates  of  the  same  noble  marquis.  Believe 
me  always,  Yours  very  devotedly, 

"U.  J.  CANON  BOURKE." 

This  letter  will  be  of  interest  for  more  reasons 
than  one.  Canon  Bourke  seldom  signed  his  full 
signature,  but  I  give  it  as  it  was  signed  to  this 
letter.  God  help  the  poor  Irish  !  Exiled  without 
a  thought  as  to  what  was  to  become  of  them,  in 
the  land  of  their  exile  ;  and  the  very  priests  who 
were  the  most  energetic  in  denouncing  the  land- 
lords who  exiled  them,  would  not  allow  anything 
to  be  done  to  keep  them  at  home,  by  providing 
employment  for  them. 

In  another  letter,  dated  Oct.  4,  1884,  he  says, — 

"Mv  DEAR  MOTHER,  —  There  is  no  use  in  fight- 
ing with  silk  gloves  on  with  those  who  trampled 
you  to  the  dust  (the  italics  are  Canon  Bourke's), 
when  they  had  it  in  their  power ;  they  regarded 
you  as  a  fair  object  for  every  outrage,  because 
they  saw  how  much  you  would  submit  to  without 


ADDITIONAL   EXTRACTS. 


complaint,  till  at  last  they  took  you  to  be  a  fool, 
whom  they  might  treat  as  they  pleased.  It  is 
your  business  to  get  Knock  back,  and  finish  it. 
You  will  succeed  if  your  friend  Dr.  Bagshawe 
works  out  the  matter.  I  told  you  what  his 
eminence,  the  cardinal  said." 

In  a  postscript  to  this  letter,  Canon  Bourke 
says,  — 

"  He,  (Archbishop  Me  Evilly)  gave  you  leave  to 
collect,  and  threatened  to  censure  me  for  giving 
you  some  help,  as  you  will  remember." 

The  allusion  to  Cardinal  Manning  was  this  : 
Canon  Bourke  had  written  to  me  some  time  previ- 
ous, to  say  he  had  been  in  London  and  had  dined 
with  Cardinal  Manning,  and  at  the  dinner  table 
the  cardinal  had  spoken  very  warmly  of  me  and 
of  the  work  I  was  doing.  This  letter  I  have  unfor- 
tunately lost  or  mislaid. 

In  a  letter  dated  Dec.  31,  1883,  he  says,  — 

"  Your  name  and  fame  will  be  defended  by  some 
of  us  here,  and  after  a  time  by  most  people. 
When  the  archbishop  met  you  in  Dublin  did  he 
offer  any  fair  terms,  or  was  his  action  such  as  I 
had  foretold  ?  " 

I  might  multiply  letters  from  priests  and  lay- 
men who  had  personal  knowledge  of  the  way  I 
was  treated  at  Knock. 


346  'PtfE  WU-V  ~°F  KENMARE. 

In  a  letter  which  I  received  from  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Toronto,  after  I  had  gone  to  England, 
he  writes,  — 

"  Before  you  left  Knock,  I  heard  of  the  opposi- 
sition  you  received,  and  I  wrote  very  strong  letters 
to  Canon  Bourke  that  he  might  show  them  to 
Father  Cavanagh.  I  fear  that  his  views  are  too 
restricted.  I  lately  read  the  life  of  the  foundress  of 
a  religious  order  in  Belgium,  who  had  to  leave  her 
first  foundation,  Amiens,  and  take  refuge  in  Namur, 
in  Belgium.  However,  the  Bishop  of  Amiens  after- 
wards recognized  her  goodness,  and  made  ample 
apology.  We  have  another  example  in  St.  Hya- 
cinthe,  the  foundress  of  the  Precious  Blood,  who 
was  set  aside  by  the  bishop  of  the  diocese,  through 
an  over-restricted  zeal.  Your  case  is  not  singular, 
and  God  will  bring  things  to  a  good  issue  in  the 
end.  Wishing  you  every  happiness  in  your  new 
abode,  and  every  blessing  to  yourself  and  com- 
munity, I  remain,  dear  Mother  M.  F.  Clare, 
"  Faithfully  yours  in  Christ, 

"  JOHN  JOSEPH  LYNCH, 

"  Archbishop  of  Toronto." 

The  Very  Rev.  Canon  Gerraghty,  whose  parish 
was  next  to  that  of  Knock,  wrote  to  me,  — 

"  I  am  glad  to  learn  that  you  and  your  sisters 
are  happy  in  England  I  would  be  more  pleased 
and  happier  if  you  were  in  Knock.  People  here 
do  not  know  the  real  reason  of  your  leaving 


LETTER  FROM  RICHARD  KELLY. 


347 


Knock.  I  went  to  Knock,  and  before  the  altar 
I  prayed  as  fervently  as  I  could  that  Almighty 
God  would  move  the  hearts  of  all  concerned,  and 
that,  in  the  interests  of  the  poor,  the  work  might 
be  resumed.  I  am  sure  you  would  work  with 
more  pleasure  at  Knock  than  anywhere  else." 

Mr.  Richard  'Kelly,  the  editor  of  the  Ttiam 
Herald  wrote  to  me,  — 

"  I  have  heard  many  persons  speak  quite  indig- 
nantly about  the  course  adopted  towards  you, 
many  lamenting  the  fate  of  the  hundred  little 
ones  whom  you  gathered  together  and  who  must 
now  relapse  into  normal  ignorance.  Poor  Ireland, 
it  is  ever  thus  with  her,  since  history  first  told  her 
sad  story  of  dissensions  ;  more  harm  done  to  her 
by  her  own  than  by  strangers.  But  there  is  a  new 
and  a  wholesome  spirit  abroad  that  will  burn  out 
of  the  people  that  vile  spirit  born  of  slaves  and 
bondsmen, —  the  spirit  of  deceit  and  jealousy,  of 
mean-spiritedness  and  servility.  You  will  yet 
find  assistance  and  help  from  persons  of  all  climes 

and  creeds.     As  to  F C I  fully  concur  in 

B 's  opinion  of  his  vanity  and  selfishness.     But 

it  would  be  a  monstrous  injustice  to  let  his  little 
game  succeed,  and  surely  you  have  some  lien  on 
the  building  to  prevent  it." 

I  need  scarcely  say  that  it  was  impossible  for 
even  a  Roman  Catholic  gentleman  to  understand 


348  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

the  peculiarities  of  ecclesiastical  law  as  practised 
in  the  Roman  Catholic  church.  Archbishop 
Lynch's  letter  given  above  should  be  carefully 
noted.  The  custom  of  persecuting  any,  one  who 
tries  to  do  a  good  work  of  any  kind  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  church  is  so  universal,  that  it  is  looked  on 
as  something  which  must  be.  lUis  certainly  diffi- 
cult for  ordinary  minds  to  understand  why  it  is 
right  to  persecute  men  or  women  while  they  are 
alive  for  doing  certain  things,  for  which  they  are 
canonized  with  such  pomp  and  show  when  they 
are  dead,  particularly  in  view  of  the  claims  of 
the  Roman  Church  to  extraordinary  sanctity  and 
infallibility  in  her  rulers.  One  would  suppose 
that  if  a  work  is  so  good  that  the  doer  of  it 
is  worthy  of  canonization  after  death,  it  was 
equally  worthy  of  commendation  and  support 
during  the  person's  life. 

A  gentleman  writing  to  me  from  New  York, 
April  21,  1884,  says, — 

"  You  never  told  me  the  language  Father  John 
used  to  you,  or  how  he  tortured  you.  I  know  it 
now.  It  seems  to  rne  as  if  you  had  been  shielding 
rather  than  accusing  your  persecutors,  who,  on  their 
part,  as  I  have  now  good  reason  to  think,  resolved 
at  all  hazards  to  crush  and  banish  you." 

In  a  letter  from  the  same  gentleman,  dated 
December  10,  1883,  he  begins  thus, — 


i  LEAVE  KNOCK: 


349 


"  So  they  have  done  it  at  last !  Their  conduct 
is  certainly  outrageous  and  unpardonable.  No 
doubt  they  were  resolved  on  pursuing  a  desperate 
game,  and  were  determined,  anyhow,  not  to  permit 
you  to  enter  the  new  convent.  I  can  only  say 
that  it  was  well  you  did  not  die,  extremely  fortu- 
nate for  Father  John,  and  I  think  the  archdeacon 
has  cause  to  thank  God  also.  As  to  the  Kelleys, 
from  all  I  saw  of  them,  they  are  not  worth  alluding 
to.  They  could  not  and  would  not  have  pursued 
the  course  they  did  to  harass  you,  if  they  did  not 
see  and  know  that  the  two  priests  were  vindic- 
tively opposed  to  you,  and  in  fact  determined  to 
crush  you.  I  suppose  you  can  see  very  clearly 
what  is,  in  a  great  measure  at  least,  the  cause  and 
origin  of  all  this,  looking  back  through  Cardinal 
McCabe,  Bishop  Higgins,  Lord  Lansdowne,  and 
possibly,  though  remotely,  Vere  Foster,  who  did  not 
appreciate  your  advocacy  and  help  in  behalf  of  the 
persecuted,  and  your  spirited  and  courageous,  and 
to  a  great  extent,  successful  combating  with 
oppression." 

I  left  Knock  so  quietly  that  no  one  but  the 
sisters  knew  that  I  might  never  return.  And 
may  I  not  say  that  this  was  another  proof  how 
anxious  I  was  to  keep  as  quiet  as  I  could,  and  to 
make  no  trouble  for  my  ecclesiastical  superiors. 
When,  after  making  every  effort  to  carry  out  a 
good  work,  I  find  determined  opposition  to  it 


350 


THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


on  the  part  of  those  who  have  it  in  their  power 
to  prevent  its  accomplishment,  I  withdraw  quietly. 
If  I  am  to  blame,  it  is  for  not  withdrawing  sooner  ; 
but  it  has  been  so  difficult  for  me  to  think  that 
this  opposition  would  always  continue,  especially 
when  it  was  opposition  to  what  had  the  approval 
of  the  pope. 

I  left  Knock  for  Dublin  the  first  of  November, 
1883.  I  had  never  recovered  the  severe  illness 
which  had  followed  my  move  to  the  stables  in 
Knock,  and  the  constant  and  irritating  troubles 
which  I  had  to  endure  afterwards  had  added  other 
complications.  What  a  grief  it  was  to  me  to  leave 
Knock  I  cannot  tell,  but  I  had  at  last  realized  the 
hopelessness  of  persevering.  Quite  a  number  of 
sisters  had  joined  me  at  Knock,  and  they  too  saw 
the  hopelessness  of  our  case,  when  we  could  not 
induce  the  archbishop  to  protect  us,  or  even  to 
make  any  personal  inquiry  into  our  difficulties. 

On  my  arrival  I  was  as  usual  obliged  to  goto  a 
friend's  house,  and  yet  it  was  made  a  subject  of 
reproach  to  me  by  the  very  archbishop  who  had 
put  me  out  of  a  convent  a  short  time  before. 

If  I  went  to  a  convent  by  desire  of  one  superior, 
I  was  driven  out  of  it  in  disgrace,  and  if  I  did  not 
go  to  a  convent  I  was  blamed  for  not  going.  And 
I  had  just  the  same  difficulty  to  contend  with  in 
New  York  as  will  be  seen  later.  It  was  not  easy 


DISMA  Y  AT  KNOCK. 


351 


for  me  to  please  my  superiors,  I  hope  they  did  not 
mean  to  be  deliberately  unjust  or  cruel,  but  they 
certainly  should  not  have  listened  to  and  acted 
upon  all  the  unkind  gossip  which  came  from  Ken- 
mare  without  investigating  its  truth.  Yet  when 
so  much  of  it  came  direct  from  Bishop  Higgins  to 
Cardinal  McCabe,  he  would  have  had  some  excuse 
if  he  had  not  so  positively  refused  to  allow  me  any 
'opportunity  of  explanation. 

When  the  people  of  Knock  saw  that  the  sisters 
followed  me  to  England,  and  that  the  works  were 
stopped,  they  were  in  dismay  and  did  all  they  could 
to  get  us  back  ;  but  they  had  not  even  the  courage 
or  the  spirit  of  the  Kenmare  people.  They  were 
wretchedly  poor,  crushed  clown,  and  miserable,  and 
Father  Cavanagh  was  very,  very  angry  with  them 
for  wanting  to  have  us  back.  The  following  letter 
will  give  some  idea  of  the  wretched  state  of  the 
district.  It  was  no  wonder  that  Father  Cavanagh's 
parish  was  a  centre  of  Secret  Societies,  and  the 
district  notorious  for  outrages,  - 

"  THE  PRESBYTERY,  CLAREMORRIS,  July  2,  1883. 
"  MY  DEAR  REVEREND  MOTHER,  I  know  you  are 
at  present  engaged  in  collecting  for  your  own 
convent  and  lace  factory  at  Knock ;  but  I  know 
also  that  the  cry  of  distress  was  never  made  to  you 
in  vain.  You  have  seen  the  wretched  condition  of 
the  evicted  tenants  of  Mr.  Burke,  and  you  know 


352 


THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


that  in  all  Ireland  there  was  not  a  worse  landlord, 
even  though  he  was  a  Catholic.  You  know  how 
this  moment  they  are  lying  out  on  the  roadside 
half-starving,  and  you  know  also  how  thankful 
they  would  be  for  any  employment.  I  do  not  ask 
for  money,  nor  would  I  give  it  to  them  ;  but  they 
ask  for  employment  only,  that  they  may  be  saved 
from  starvation.  I  saw  a  letter  from  a  priest  in 
Kerry,  who  said  God  had  sent  you  to  our  arch- 
bishop to  save  the  people  in  their  hour  of  need,  as 
you  did  in  Kerry,  when  the  famine  was  there.  I 
know  you  will  not  fail  us  now. 

"  I  am,  dear  Reverend  Mother, 

"  Yours  very  sincerely  in  Christ, 

"  JAMES  CORBETT,  C.C." 

But  there  is  yet  a  deeper  depth  in  this  misery. 
Dr.  Burke  demanded  ;£io,ooo  "  compensation " 
for  his  brother's  murder  —  and  it  was  levied  off 
this  unfortunate  barony.  Surely  ten  thousand 
pounds  and  the  temporal  ruin  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  families  is  a  high  price  to  ask  as  vengeance 
for  one  murder.  And  surely,  fearful  and  awful  as 
is  the  crime  of  murder,  above  all,  when  it  comes 
in  the  premeditated  form  of  assassination,  the  pre- 
meditated and  merciless  eviction  of  hundreds  of 
helpless  people  is  not  an  act  of  virtue. 

The  following  letter  will  show  the  state  of  health 
I  was  in  when  I  left  Knock  finally. 


CERTIFICATE   OF  SURGEON  McVEIGH. 


353 


"RUTLAND  SQUARE,  DUBLIN,  Nov.  21,  1883. 
"  I  certify  that  Mother  Clare  Cusack  has  been 
under  my  professional  care  for  some  time,  with 
very  serious  symptoms  of  impairing  health.  For 
many  years  she  has  suffered  from  acute  disease 
of  the  throat,  which  has  tended  to  develop  pulmo- 
nary irritation.  Her  most  serious  malady  is 

trouble,  which  I  am  using  the  most  prompt  and 
urgent  means  to  avert.  Her  illness  has  been 
caused  by  her  great  mental  labors,  and  by  depres- 
sion of  spirits,  the  result  of  wearing  anxiety,  a 

fruitful   factor   of disease.       I    would   advise 

immediate  relaxation  from  all  causes  which  tend  to 
depress  her.  JOHN  MCVEIGH,  M.D. 

"Fellow  of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons,  Diiblin." 

Dr.  McVeigh  considered  my  case  so  serious  that 
he  wrote  to  Archbishop  McEvilly,  to  urge  on  him 
the  necessity  of  giving  me  some  protection  from 
the  attacks  of  those  who  were,  in  the  opinion  of 
this  eminent  physician,  the  cause  of  my  illness,  if 
not  of  placing  my  life  in  danger.  Of  this  commu- 
nication the  archbishop  took  no  notice,  very  much 
to  the  doctor's  surprise  and  indignation. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

GOING   TO    ROME. 

The  New  Order  Approved  by  Cardinal  Manning  and  Bishop  Bagshawe  — 
Character  of  the  Order — Sent  on  a  New  Mission  —  An  Undesirable 
Priest  —  Preparations  for  Rome  —  I  Stay  at  Lourdes  —  Another 
"  Knock  "  —  A  Broken-Hearted  Priest  —  The  Shrine  of  the  Sacred 
Heart  —  Paray-le-Monial  — Kind  Reception  in  Rome —  A  Visit  from 
Cardinal  Howard  —  In  Charge  of  Mgr.  Gualdi  —  Absurd  Espionage — 
Favors  in  Rome  —  I  see  Mgr.  Macchi  —  Public  and  Private  Audience 
with  the  Holy  Father  —  His  Holiness  Recognizes  the  Life  of  O'Connell 
—  He  Approves  my  Plan  and  my  Writing  —  Letter  from  Father  Gaff- 
ney,  S.  J. 

His  Eminence  Cardinal  Manning  and  Bishop 
Bagshawe  both  approved  of  the  new  Order  which 
I  wished  to  establish,  and  the  work  which  I  pro- 
posed to  do,  which  seemed  to  commend  itself  to 
every  one.  There  was  no  religious  order  in  the 
Roman  Catholic  church  devoted  to  this  kind  of 
work.  It  is  true  that  the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  by  their 
rule,  should  have  devoted  themselves  to  the  care 
of  destitute  young  women,  but  their  institutions, 
perhaps  unintentionally,  have  taken  more  the 
character  of  reformatories.  My  plan  of  individual 
training  was  not  even  thought  of.  The  young 
women  in  these  institutions  are  chiefly  occupied 
in  laundry  work,  and  this  being  done  necessarily 
on  a  very  large  scale,  their  training,  in  this  re- 

354 


ARRIVAL  IN  ENGLAND. 


355 


spect,  is  of  very  little  use  when  they  go  into 
domestic  service  or  marry. 

Of  late  years  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  have  occu- 
pied themselves  principally  with  the  education  of 
young  ladies,  a  matter  which  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  contemplated  in  their  original  rule.  It  is 
obvious  that  sisters  who  are  occupied  in  teaching 
cannot  devote  their  time,  care,  and  thought  to  the 
training  of  girls  ;  a  work  which  requires  special 
capacity  and  special  knowledge. 

I  feel  as  if  it  would  seem  ungracious  on  my  part 
were  I  to  speak  of  some  of  my  difficulties  in  Eng- 
land where  I  was  so  kindly  received  by  his  Emi- 
nence and  Bishop  Bagshawe ;  but  something  must 
be  said  on  this  subject,  if  I  am  to  make  my  auto- 
biography complete. 

It  was  with  no  ordinary  joy  that  I  found  all  the 

sisters  around  me  once  more.     Poor  Sister  M 

had  returned  to  Cavan  under  the  care  of  a  priest, 
and,  to  her  dismay,  she  found  that  the  very  sister 
of  whom  she  had  so  often  complained  to  me  as 
having  been  too  strict  with  her,  was  now  made 
her  superior. 

Bishop  Bagshawe  had  several  places  where  sis- 
ters were  needed,  but  there  was  one  place  in  par- 
ticular which  he  was  anxious  that  I  should  go  to. 
The  circumstances  of  the  parish  were  very  dis- 
tressing, and  I  was  sadly  afraid,  after  my  experi- 


356  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

ence  at  Knock,  of  placing  myself  and  my  sisters  in 
what  might  prove  another  painful  complication. 

I  did  not  like  to  refuse  Bishop  Bagshawe,  and  he 
was  very  urgent  about  the  matter.  His  Eminence 
Cardinal  Manning  also  wished  me  to  go  there  as 
many  people  had  left  the  church,  a  beautiful  build- 
ing erected  by  a  zealous  convert,  and  there  had 
not  been  six  communions  at  the  Christmas  season. 
The  priest  was  removed  with  some  difficulty,  as  he 
was  a  person  of  influence  and  importance.  He 
was,  however,  received  at  once  into  another  dio- 
cese, notwithstanding  what  had  occurred  in  the 
place  from  which  he  had  been  removed. 

I  was  then  staying  with  some  of  the  sisters  in 
Nottingham,  in  a  private  house,  making  final 
arrangements  to  go  to  our  new  mission.  Just  as  I 
was  about  to  leave,  a  priest  belonging  to  the  Not- 
tingham diocese  came  to  me  in  a  very  excited 
state,  and  told  me  he  thought  it  his  duty  to  tell 
me  the  character  of  the  priest  who  was  going  in 
the  place  of  the  one  who  had  just  been  removed. 

Of  all  my  trials,  this  was  not  one  of  the  least. 
I  did  not  like  to  consult  with  any  of  the  sisters ; 
in  fact,  there  was  no  time  to  do  anything,  as  we 
should  leave  in  half  an  hour.  I  thought  if  I  went 
to  the  bishop  and  refused  to  go,  that  a  new  story 
would  be  circulated  to  prove  that  I  could  not  agree 
with  my  bishop ;  so  I  went,  and  I  held  my  peace 


PREPARING  FOR  ROME.  357 

until  the  truth  of  what  I  had  been  told  was  so  ap- 
parent that  I  felt  bound  in  conscience  to  report 
the  matter  to  the  bishop.  He  was  not  surprised, 
for,  of  course,  he  knew  the  poor  priest's  failings, 
but  what  can  bishops  do  ?  They  must  have 
priests,  and  they  must  often  take  what  they  can 
get  or  leave  their  missions  unsupplied. 

It  had  already  been  arranged  that  I  should  go 
to  Rome  as  soon  as  possible.  A  bishop  can  estab- 
lish a  new  religious  order  in  his  own  diocese  if  he 
pleases,  but  it  is  not  recognized  by  the  church 
until  the  Holy  See  has  pronounced  in  its  favor.  If 
Archbishop  McEvilly  had  so  pleased,  he  could 
have  made  this  arrangement  in  the  diocese  of 
Tuam,  and  if  he  had  allowed  me  to  take  postulants, 
as  the  superiors  of  more  than  one  convent  in  his 
diocese  suggested,  and  trained  them  for  sisters, 
much  trouble  might  have  been  saved.  With  very 
few  exceptions,  every  religious  order  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  church  has  been  begun  by  a  few  girls  or 
ladies  who  had  no  religious  training  whatever,  and 
who  often  had  very  little  education.  They  learn 
the  observances  of  a  religious  life  from  books  and 
experience. 

In  my  case,  as  I  had  already  made  vows  as  a 
Poor  Clare,  it  was  necessary  that  I  should  have  a 
dispensation  from  these  vows,  as  well  as  the  per- 
mission to  found  a  new  order. 


358  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

I  have  purposely  said  a  good  deal  about  the 
Poor  Clare  rule  and  observances,  and  though  I  am 
well  aware  that  some  things  which  I  have  said  in 
this  book  will  not  be  of  general  interest,  yet  I 
have  not  said  anything  which  will  not  be  necessary 
for  some  of  my  readers,  who  will  look  at  the 
matter  from  different  points  of  view.  With  re- 
gard to  my  vows  as  a  Poor  Clare,  there  have  been 
some  grave  mistatements,  but  I  can  explain  their 
source  and  cause.  The  Poor  Clare  order  is  con- 
sidered one  of  the  most  ancient  of  all  in  the 
Roman  church,  and  the  Kenmare  sisters  and  their 
friends  made  it  appear  as  if  I  had  "fallen  from 
grace"  in  leaving  it.  With  that  curious  blind- 
ness, which  generally  characterizes  those  who  have 
a  motive  for  criticism,  they  forgot  that  when  they 
criticised  me  they  were  also  criticising  the  Pope 
and  the  Sacred  Congregation  of  Propaganda.  If 
there  was  wrong  done,  it  was  approved  by  the 
highest  authority  in  the  church.  I  have  letters 
which  show  that  if  this  report  did  not  originate  in 
Kenmare  it  was  sent  out  from  there.  And  it  was 
circulated  very  widely  in  this  country  by  those 
who  ought  to  have  known  better. 

I  have  shown  how  different  the  present  rule 
of  the  Kenmare  sisters  is  from  the  original  rule 
of  St.  Clare,  a  fact  which  should  have  made  them 
charitable  and  silent.  But  there  is  one  point 


"ORPHANS"  A   DEAD  LETTER. 


359 


about  their  vows  to  which  I  must  call  attention. 
When  they  were  first  established  in  their  present 
form,  they  were  obliged  to  make  a  vow  to  devote 
themselves  to  the  care  of  poor  orphan  children. 
This  they  did  not  do,  and  another  of  many  altera- 
tions was  made  •  in  their  vows,  and  they  were 
changed  so  that  the  vow  as  at  present  taken, 
stands,  that  they  shall  devote  themselves  to  the 
care  of  poor  children  and  especially  orphans.  Now 
the  "  especially  orphans  "  is  simply  a  dead  letter 
in  Kenmare ;  the  sisters  have  no  orphans  there, 
and  never  had,  so  they  actually  make  a  vow  to  do 
what  they  have  not  the  least  idea  of  doing.  The 
way  in  which  this  difficulty  is  got  over  is  more 
ingenious  than  truthful.  The  sisters  are  told  that 
if  there  happens  to  be  any  orphan  child  in  the 
schools,  they  are  to  give  special  attention  to  this 
child.  But  such  children  are  very  seldom  found 
at  schools  in  Ireland,  because  they  are  sent  to  the 
workhouse  or  to  an  orphanage.  Things  being  so, 
the  Kenmare  sisters  or  their  friends  should  have 
been  slow  to  criticise  others. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  here  to  go  into  the  details 
of  my  visit  to  Rome ;  if  I  recorded  all  I  saw  and 
heard  I  might  fill  another  volume.  I  went  pro- 
vided with  all  the  necessary  credentials  from  my 
bishop  and  from  His  Eminence  Cardinal  Manning, 
and  I  brought  with  me  the  originals  of  all  the 


360  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

documents  which  will  be  found  in  this  volume,  and 
of  many  others.  I  was  obliged  to  travel  very 
slowly  on  account  of  my  health,  and  the  rest  I  was 
obliged  to  take  on  my  way  afforded  me  a  valuable 
opportunity  of  knowing  something  of  the  state  of 
France  and  Italy ;  I  talked  freely  to  the  people 
and  in  return  heard  a  great  deal  from  them. 

I  stayed  some  days  at  Lourdes,  where  the  peo- 
ple seemed  to  me  to  be  very  good  and  simple,  and 
I  saw  to  my  grief  what  I  might  call  another  Knock 
there.  The  priest  who  had  been  the  first  to  make 
known  the  apparition,  and  to  do  everything  for 
the  young  girl  to  whom  the  Blessed  Virgin  ap- 
peared, was  desirous  of  building  a  church  for  his 
parishioners,  and  indeed  it  was  greatly  needed. 
The  church  where  the  apparition  took  place  is  a 
most  costly  building  on  the  summit  of  a  steep  hill, 
and  there  is  no  room  for  any  one  except  the  pil- 
grims. It  would  have  been  quite  impossible  for 
the  parishioners  of  Lourdes  to  hear  Mass  there. 
The  good  parish  priest  of  Lourdes  began  his 
church  on  that  costly  scale  which  seems  inevitable 
with  those  who  spend  other  people's  money.  He 
hoped,  however,  that  some  of  the  enormous  sums 
of  money  which  were  sent  or  given  to  Lourdes 
would  come  to  him  in  its  overflow,  but  the  shrine 
of  Lourdes  was  placed  in  the  care  of  priests  be- 
longing to  a  religious  order.  The  parish  priest 


A  "  KNOCK"  A  T  LOURDES. 


361 


was  completely  set  asfde,  and  literally  died  of  a 
broken  heart  in  the  midst  of  the  plenty  which  he 
was  the  means  of  bringing  to  the  place.  He  is 
buried  in  the  ruins  of  the  roofless  church  which 
he  had  begun  for  his  people.  I  spoke  to  a  priest 
there  about  their  conduct  in  this  matter,  but 
of  course  it  was  quite  useless  ;  they  are  million- 
aires and  they  intend  to  remain  so.  Piety  some- 
times flows  in  capricious  channels  ;  the  ruins  at 
Knock  and  at  Lourdes  being  at  least  existing 
examples. 

I  also  remained  a  few  days  at  Paray-le-Monial, 
the  shrine  of  the  devotion  of  the  Sacred  Heart, 
and  to  this  place  also  I  could  devote  more  than 
one  chapter,  but  as  the  subject  is  apart  from  my 
personal  history,  I  shall  only  say  that  I  saw  there 
also,  but  in  a  different  fashion,  the  mutability  of 
religious  belief.  There  were  only  a  few  sisters 
and  a  few  priests  to  keep  up  the  devotion  of  the 
Sacred  Heart  in  the  very  shrine  of  its  birth.  It  is 
indeed  strange  and  perplexing ;  in  view  of  the 
many  statements  that  wherever  the  devotion  is 
specially  kept  up  special  grace  will  come,  and 
peace  and  piety  must  reign  supreme.  Certainly, 
as  far  as  Paray-le-Monial  is  concerned,  these  state- 
ments have  failed.  The  people  have  expelled  the 
priests,  and  the  Jesuits  had  a  magnificent  college 
there,  which  remains  closed  up,  they  themselves 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


having  been  obliged  to  leave  ;  and  the  mass  of  the 
population  are  infidels. 

I  was  received  most  kindly  and  cordially  in 
Rome.  I  had  not  been  there  more  than  a  few 
days  when  I  had  the  honor  of  a  visit  from  Cardinal 
Howard,  then  a  prominent  member  of  the  Sacred 
College,  and  apparently  in  perfect  health  and 
vigor.  I  saw  his  eminence  frequently  afterwards, 
and  he  expressed  his  opinion  very  plainly  as  to  the 
way  I  had  been  treated  in  Ireland.  On  one  occa- 
sion he  said,  "  It  seems  to  me  that  you  have  been 
the  Joan  of  Arc  of  Ireland  ;  you  are  trying  to  help 
every  one.  They  could  not  burn  you  alive,  and  so 
they  only  hunted  you  out." 

My  affairs  were  placed  in  the  hands  of  one  of 
Minutandi  in  Propaganda,  the  late  Mgr.  Gualdi, 
a  priest  of  great  sanctity,  and  much  thought  of  in 
Propaganda,  who  knew  English  thoroughly,  having 
spent  some  years  in  England,  and  who  was  en- 
trusted with  English  and  Irish  affairs. 

I  was  surprised  to  find  how  well  the  characters 
of  the  different  bishops  were  known  in  Rome. 
My  business  was  to  get  a  dispensation  from  my 
vows  as  a  Poor  Clare,  and  the  permission  to  estab- 
lish the  Order  of  the  Sisters  of  Peace.  As  I  have 
said  before,  it  was  necessary  that  the  Holy  Father 
should  be  well  assured  that  I  was  worthy  of  such 
a  favor  before  it  would  be  granted.  All  the  false 


ARRIVAL   A  T  ROME. 


363 


reports  which  had  been  circulated  about  me  were 
investigated,  and  all  the  original  documents  pub- 
lished in  this  work  were  carefully  looked  over. 

Mgr.  Gualdi  told  me  privately  that  piles  of 
letters  were  sent  in  about  me  to  Propaganda,  all 
of  which  passed  through  his  hands,  and  he  said 
there  was  not  one  single  charge  substantiated 
against  me.  He  said,  "  We  are  used  to  this 
kind  of  thing  in  Rome.  Letters  full  of  complaints, 
rumors,  and  suggestions,  but  not  one  word  of  fact." 
I  heard  some  curious  and  amusing  incidents  of 
letters  and  statements  which  were  sent  into  Prop- 
aganda about  priests  who  were  likely  to  be  ap- 
pointed bishops,  from  those  who  were  opposed  to 
them.  After  all,  human  nature  is  everywhere. 
In  my  case,  at  least,  "Roma  locuta  est"  has 
had  no  meaning.  Rome  has  spoken  for  me  in 
vain,  to  some  American  bishops,  at  least. 

I  may  mention  one  incident  of  my  stay  in  Rome 
which  will  show  how  absurd  was  the  espionage 
kept  on  my  movements,  and  how  anxious  certain 
persons  in  Ireland  were  to  keep  up  the  disproved 
charges  against  me. 

I  stayed  at  a  private  boarding-house  near  Propa- 
ganda, and  within  a  few  doors  of  Mgr.  Gualdi's 
residence,  this  arrangement  having  been  approved 
of  by  him  for  mutual  convenience.  I  had  a  sister 
with  me.  I  never  left  my  room  or  joined  the 


364 


THE  NUN  OF 


guests,  although,  while  I  was  there,  a  sister  was 
staying  in  the  same  boarding-house,  and  took  her 
meals  with  the  others,  and  joined  them  in  the 
evening.  I  remained  in  my  room  with  the  sister 
who  travelled  with  me  because  I  preferred  to  do 
so,  and  partly  because  I  knew  how  I  was  watched, 
and  I  determined  to  leave  no  cause  for  new  re- 
ports, unless  they  should  be  manufactured  as  they 
had  been  before.  I  was  not  able  to  go  out  to 
early  Mass,  and  I  did  not  like  the  sister  to  go  out 
alone  in  Rome,  although  other  sisters  did  so.  I 
therefore  proposed  to  move  to  a  convent  where 
they  took  boarders,  and  where  the  sister  could  go 
to  Mass  with  the  others. 

But  when  I  mentioned  this  to  Mgr.  Gualdi  he 
would  not  hear  of  it.  He  said,  "  This  will  be  another 
removal,  and  one  of  the  complaints  against  you  is 
that  you  are  constantly  removing.  I  know  that  it 
is  not  true,  and  that  you  have  never  moved  with- 
out necessity  and  permission,  but,  all  the  same, 
we  must  not  let  you  be  talked  of  in  Rome,  if 
possible." 

I  had  many  favors  granted  to  me  in  Rome  which 
I  had  never  expected.  I  was  cordially  received 
in  Propaganda,  and  was  given  special  facilities  for 
the  preparation  of  a  paper  which  I  was  asked  to 
write  for  the  Paris  Univers  on  the  Propaganda. 
It  seemed  to  me  then,  as  it  seems  to  me  now,  a 


INTERVIEW  AT  THE    VATICAN.  365 

great  injustice  that  the  Italian  government  should 
have  interfered  with  the  money  of  Propaganda, 
as  it  was  neither  a  national  nor  an  Italian  fund. 

At  the  Vatican  I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing 
Mgr.  Macchi  frequently,  and  I  had  the  great  favor 
of  both  a  public  and  a  private  audience  with  the 
Holy  Father.  This  last  favor  caused  a  great  deal 
of  annoyance  in  America  among  certain  ecclesias- 
tics, and  Archbishop  Corrigan  showed  his  disap- 
proval practically  by  refusing  to  see  me  until  I 
had  been  nearly  three  years  in  America.  If  he 
had  respected  the  reception  given  to  me  by  the 
Holy  Father  in  Rome,  he  would  certainly  have 
received  me  himself.  For  an  inferior  to  refuse  to 
show  even  common  courtesy  to  one  who  had  been 
received  by  his  superior,  is  a  strange  failure  of 
respect  to  the  latter. 

Everything  has  been  said  and  written,  which 
could  be  said  or  written,  in  America  to  do  away 
with  or  to  minimize  the  fact,  but  all  in  vain.  The 
denial  or  discredit  may  gratify  a  poor  feeling  of 
jealousy,  but  it  cannot  alter  facts.  The  official 
report  of  my  audience  with  the  Holy  Father  will 
be  found  in  the  appendix. 

My  audience  was  entirely  private,  as  I  did  not 
require  an  interpreter. 

Mgr.  Macchi  brought  in  the  whole  set  of  my 
books  to  his  holiness,  who  looked  at  them,  I 


•566  THE  NUN  OF  JfENMARE. 

think  somewhat  surprised  at  the  number.  Some 
of  them  were  duplicated,  having  been  translated 
into  German,  French,  and  Italian.  He  could  read 
the  title  of  these  works,  and  the  name  of  O'Con- 
nell  was  naturally  familiar  to  him,  as  he  noticed  it 
on  my  "  Life  of  O'Connell,"  which  I  brought 
with  my  other  books. 

His  holiness  specially  commended  the  plan  of 
my  new  order,  and  encouraged  me  in  every  way 
to  continue  writing.  He  gave  his  blessing  to  all 
the  sisters  present  and  to  come,  and  to  all  those 
who  would  contribute  to  my  work.  I  cannot  for- 
get his  paternal  and  affectionate  kindness,  and  the 
sympathy  he  expressed  for  the  troubles  I  had  gone 
through.  My  last  audience  was  a  public  one,  and 
at  this  the  Holy  Father  noticed  me  specially,  and 
spoke  to  those  who  were  standing  around,  explain- 
ing to  them  in  a  few  words  that  we  were  Sisters  of 
Peace,  and  the  object  of  our  work. 

I  left  Rome  with  a  light  heart.  It  never  oc- 
curred to  me,  even  for  a  moment,  to  suppose  that 
there  could  be  any  more  opposition.  I  was  sure 
that  those  who  had  circulated  false  reports  would 
at  once  cease  to  do  so,  no  matter  what  they  might 
feel,  as  Rome  had  spoken.  I  knew  also  how  those 
who  were  interested  in  my  work  would  rejoice,  but 
my  hopes  were  not  to  be  realized. 

Amongst  my  friends  none  was  more  faithful  or 


LETTER  OF  FATHER   GAFFXEY.  367 

devoted  to  me  than  the  Jesuit  father  whose  letter 
of  congratulation  I  give  below. 

"ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER'S,  UPPER  GARDINER  ST., 
"DUBLIN,  April  5,  1884. 

"  DEAR  REVEREND  MOTHER,  —  Your  letter  of 
last  Monday,  which  I  received  yesterday  evening, 
has  given  me  great  pleasure,  as  you  well  under- 
stand, and  I  lose  no  time  in  writing  to  compliment 
you  most  sincerely  on  the  great  success  of  your 
visit  to  the  eternal  city.  This  will  be  a  bright 
page  in  your  eventful  and  chequered  life ;  you  will 
be  able  now  to  go  cheerfully  to  work,  and  the  great 
troubles  you  have  gone  through  will  soon  be  for- 
gotten or  will  only  serve  to  make  you  more  confi- 
dent in  the  protection  of  heaven.  You  have  al- 
ready achieved  a  good  deal ;  the  foundations  are 
now  laid,  but  the  building  is  to  be  raised,  and  bear 
glorious  fruits  worthy  of  the  happy  title  and  name 
under  which  it  appears  before  the  world.  With 
many  others  I  shall  watch  with  the  deepest  in- 
terest the  progress  of  this  new  promising  child 
of  the  church.  I  suppose  you  will  visit  Paray-le- 
Monial  on  your  return,  as  you  have  been  to 
Lourdes  on  your  way  to  Rome. 

"  What  happy  and  holy  memories  will  be  treas- 
ured up  by  this  successful  visit  to  Rome. 

"  With  best  wishes  and  most  frequent  prayers 
for  your  safe  return  and  great  success, 

"  Yours  very  faithfully, 

"J.  GAFFNEY,  S.  J." 


368  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

Before  closing  this  chapter,  I  must  say  a  word 
about  our  work  and  prospects  in  England.  I 
began  work  there  under  disadvantages  which  I 
did  not  fully  realize  until  later.  In  the  first  place, 
this  Scotch  priest  who  gave  me  so  much  annoy- 
ance in  Ireland  still  continued  his  interference. 
He  had  refused  to  obey  his  bishop,  who  as  I  have 
shown,  asked  him  repeatedly  to  cease  his  silly  per- 
secution of  my  unfortunate  self.  And  now  he 
showed  how  little  respect  he  had  even  for  the 
authority  of  the  pope,  as  he  continued  to  attack 
me  in  private  all  the  same.  In  public  he  was 
more  cautious,  as  he  now  knew  that  he  might  be 
exposed  to  an  action  for  libel.  Bishop  Bagshawe 
was  not  in  favor  with  the  other  English  bishops, 
so  the  very  fact  that  he  had  brought  me  to  his 
diocese  was  also  against  us.  There  is  a  story 
related  of  the  great  and  God-loving  St.  Francis  of 
Assisi  that  he  went  about  crying  out,  "  Poor  Jesus 
Christ,  poor  Jesus  Christ "  ;  and  I  often  thought 
of  it  in  those  weary  days,  when  the  last  thought 
which  any  one  seemed  to  have  was  for  the  souls 
of  the  poor  and  outcast.  To  prevent  a  good  work 
seemed  to  be  the  very  height  of  their  ambition. 
In  England,  of  all  places,  a  work  like  ours  was 
specially  needed,  but  because  it  was  begun  under 
the  auspices  of  a  bishop  who  had  made  himself 
unpopular  because  he  had  taken  the  part  of  the 


THE   CATHOLIC  POOR  IN  ENGLAND.       369 

Irish  people,  and  because  I  was  the  promoter,  it 
was  opposed  in  every  possible  way  by  the  very 
persons  who  should  have  have  had  the  greatest 
interest  in  helping  it. 

I  will  not  give  my  own  account  of  the  state  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  poor  in  England,  but  I  will 
let  the  Bishop  of  Salford  speak  ;  writing  in  the 
Tablet,  the  organ  of  English  Catholic  opinion,  he 
says,  — 

"The  question  of  the  hour, — the  question  of 
the  time, — the  question  that  is  likely  to  harry 
and  trouble  the  mind  of  every  Catholic  who  cares 
for  the  cause  of  God's  church  and  his  poor,  for 
many  a  long  year  to  come,  is  how  to  stop  the  dread- 
ful drain  which  is  annually  robbing  Catholicism  of 
thousands  of  its  children.  In  Manchester  and 
Salford,  no  less  than  seven  and  thirty  institutions 
are  at  work,  'converting,'  not  Catholic  men  and 
women,  but  the  helpless  children  of  the  poor.  In 
a  Catholic  population  estimated  at  100,000,  there 
are  5,420  children,  mostly  very  young  children, 
'  in  extreme  danger  of  loss  of  faith,  or  practically 
lost  to  the  faith':  2,341  'in  great  danger';  and 
1,912  in  'danger'  ;  so  that  there  are  some  10,000 
children  needing  different  degrees  of  special  care, 
if  we  are  to  save  them  to  the  church  and  to  the 
kingdom  of  heaven." 

And  yet  this  bishop  would  not  do  anything  to 
encourage  a  common-sense  plan   to   prevent    the 


37O  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

evil  he  so  pathetically  deplores.  It  would  seem 
as  if  there  were  some  people  who  think  that  writ- 
ing about  an  evil  is  the  same  thing  as  remedying 
it.  When  speaking  of  my  life  in  Kenmare  I  should 
have  mentioned  several  circumstances  which  were 
very  prejudicial  to  me  in  the  views  of  English 
Catholics  and  of  American  ecclesiastics.  The 
help  which  I  gave  to  the  people  in  the  famine 
was  one  of  my  great  offences.  To  give  help,  and 
above  all  to  appeal  for  it,  was  to  assert  a  need  for 
help,  and  English  Catholics,  with  a  few  honorable 
exceptions,  were  the  most  vehement  in  their 
denial  of  distress  in  Ireland.  If  the  people 
needed  food,  clearly  they  could  not  be  asked  to 
pay  their  rents,  or  reproached  with  not  doing  so. 
I  was,  therefore,  especially  obnoxious  to  this 
class,  and  I  was  made  to  feel  it  when  I  came  to 
England.  The  ecclesiastical  wasp  who  having 
nothing  else  to  do  was  always  buzzing  and  sting- 
ing at  my  heels,  had  succeeded,  as  such  people 
often  do,  in  hindering  a  good  work.  When  I 
was  in  Kenmare,  I  received  a  letter  from  some 
lady  who  had  arranged  to  present  Mr.  Parnell 
with  a  rug  while  he  was  in  Kilmainham  jail. 
This  rug  she  wished  to  have  ornamented  with  his 
monogram,  and  she  sent  money  to  have  it  done  in 
our  convent.  When  the  letter  came,  I  said  that 
I  thought  it  was  not  a  very  prudent  thing  to  do, 


THE   PARNELL   MONOGRAM. 


371 


as  I  would  be  sure  to  come  in  for  blame,  and  be 
accused  of  mixing  in  political  affairs.  But  I  was 
over-ruled,  and  an  English  sister,  who  hated  Mr. 
Parnell  as  cordially  as  any  of  her  country  people, 
worked  the  monogram. 

But  it  was  exhibited  in  Dublin,  as  my  work, 
and  I  got  the  credit  of  what  I  did  not  do,  in  the 
shape  of  blame  from  one  party  and  praise  from 
the  other.  Another  matter,  about  which  a  great 
stir  was  made,  and  in  which  I  was  equally  inno- 
cent, was  this :  I  had  published  a  book  about 
Knock,  and  in  this  I  had  published  a  letter  which 
had  already  appeared  in  the  public  press,  written 
by  an  American  tourist,  the  editor  of  a  paper.  In 
this  letter,  he  spoke  of  the  English  government 
as  "  the  most  infernal  "  on  the  face  of  the  earth  ; 
I  merely  published  the  letter  to  show  American 
opinion  on  the  state  of  Ireland,  and  did  not  take 
any  note  of  the  expression,  but  it  was  not  so 
with  my  friend  the  busy  wasp.  He  discovered  it 
promptly,  and  great  indeed  was  his  holy  grief  and 
pious  sorrow.  He  felt  it  "  his  duty  "  to  call  the 
attention  of  his  little  world  to  my  wickedness,  and 
to  make  the  most  of  it.  It  was  in  vain  that  I  said, 
what  was  true,  that  I  realty  did  not  notice  the 
word  ;  he  knew  better.  He  wrote  to  the  press, 
and  to  the  bishops,  and  for  all  I  knew,  to  the 
pope,  to  say  what  a  state  the  Irish  people  were  in, 


372 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


when  even  a  "  sister  "  was  writing  and  publishing 
treason. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  he  wrote  to  an  American 
bishop  who  was  of  one  mind  with  himself  on  such 
subjects,  and  who  naturally  believed  all  he  said  ; 
and  I  fear  from  some  experience,  I  must  say,  pre- 
ferred to  believe  evil,  if  it  fitted  into  his  precon- 
ceived ideas.  It  will  be  understood,  then,  that 
my  chances  of  carrying  out  my  work  in  England 
was  small.  Again  I  must  say  how  sad  I  felt  to 
see  so  little  care  for  souls  and  for  truth  amongst 
those  whom  one  should  suppose  would,  of  all 
others,  be  the  first  to  give  the  example  of  charity 
and  justice. 

The  public  meeting  which  Bishop  Bagshawe 
called  in  Nottingham  was  of  little  use,  as  those 
whom  it  should  have  convinced  that  I  had  done 
nothing  wrong,  so  ardently  desired  to  believe  evil 
of  me,  that  the  voice  of  an  angel  from  heaven 
would  not  have  convinced  them. 

There  was  yet  another  charge  against  me  which 
weighed  heavily  with  these  people.  Again  I  was 
blamed  for  what  I  did  in  obedience  to  my  ecclesi- 
astical superior,  but  this  did  not  matter  to  my 
accusers.  During  the  famine  of  1879-80,  Mr. 
Russell,  now  Sir  Charles  Russell,  who  is  attract- 
ing the  attention  of  the  world  in  the  Parnell  trial, 
paid  me  a  very  unexpected  visit  in  Kenmare.  I 


VISIT  FROM  SIR   CHARLES  RUSSELL. 


373 


was  at  the  time  ill  and  suffering,  but  I  came  to 
him,  as  I  had  known  a  sister  of  his  very  well,  and 
he  asked  specially  for  me ;  I  was  often  so  ill  that 
I  had  to  ask  a  sister  to  go  to  visitors  for  me,  and 
indeed  I  did  not  care  to  go  to  the  parlor  when  I 
could  avoid  it.  Mr.  Russell  told  me  his  business 
promptly.  He  said  he  wanted  some  information 
from  me  as  to  the  state  of  the  country.  Miss 
O'Hagan  was  then  living,  and  had  followed  me  to 
the  parlor,  as  she  and  her  brother's  family  were 
very  intimate  with  Sir  Charles's  Russell's  family. 
When  Miss  O'Hagan  heard  this,  she  stood  up 
promptly,  and  said,  laughing,  "Then  I  am  sure 
you  do  not  want  me,"  and  left  the  room.  I  was 
not  very  much  inclined  to  talk,  for  I  had  already 
trouble  enough.  But  when  I  hesitated  to  give 
the  information  which  Mr.  Russell  asked,  he  said  : 
"  You  cannot  refuse  me ;  I  was  with  your  bishop 
yesterday,  and  he  told  me  you  would  give  all  the 
information  you  could,  and  that  you  knew  more 
about  the  state  of  the  people  than  he  did."  Of 
course  after  this  there  was  no  more  to  be  said.  I 
told  him  what  I  knew ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  I 
said,  "You  know  I  must  take  a  good  deal  of  my 
information  second-hand,"  and  I  gave  him  the 
addresses  of  several  people  who  knew  the  state 
of  the  country  well,  and  told  him  to  go  to  them. 
All  the  same,  I  got  the  blame  of  what  I  did  not 
do  as  if  I  had  done  it. 


374 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


Before  leaving  England  for  America,  I  estab- 
lished two  convents  of  our  order  in  the  diocese  of 
Nottingham ;  one  at  Great  Grimsby,  and  the 
other  in  the  city  of  Nottingham.  Since  I  left 
England,  another  convent  of  the  Sisters  of  Peace 
has  been  established  at  Hassop.  But  the  work 
which  I  hoped  to  do,  and  for  which  our  order  was 
established,  is  not  carried  out  as  I  would  wish  for 
many  reasons  ;  principally,  because  of  ecclesiasti- 
cal opposition. 

It  seems  hopeless  to  expect  that  those  bishops 
who  utter  periodical  lamentations  over  the  misera- 
ble state  of  the  Catholic  church  in  England,  will 
take  up  the  only  practical  means  of  saving  these 
poor  children.  To  train  them  properly  for  domes- 
tic service  would  be  to  improve  the  whole  social 
condition  of  the  Roman  Catholic  population  of 
England,  which  at  present  is  wretched  in  the 
extreme  ;  a  fact  admitted  freely  when  a  bishop  has 
a  reason  for  doing  so,  but  denied  as  freely  when 
it  is  made  a  subject  of  reproach  to  the  church. 

It  has  often  been  made  a  reproach  that  the 
decisions  of  Rome  are  slow.  But  to  this,  Rome 
replies  that  they  are  sure.  Until  of  late  years, 
this  sureness  was  not  doubted.  But  one  must 
ask  now,  is  not  Rome  itself  infected  with  the 
spirit  of  the  age  ?  for  so  many  decisions  which 
seemed  so  carefully  and  wisely  made,  have  been 


APPROVAL    OF   THE  POPE. 


375 


reversed,  that  if  this  changefulness  increases  it 
cannot  but  have  a  marked  effect  on  public  con- 
fidence. And  yet  such  reversing  of  judgment  was 
not  uncommon  in  earlier  ages,  but  affairs  were 
not  as  soon  public  property  as  they  are  at  the 
present  day. 

I  was  told  that  I  might  have  a  very  long  time 
to  wait  before  a  decision  was  reached  in  my  case. 
But  though  I  had  only  to  wait  four  months,  I  knew 
that  every  step  was  taken  with  the  greatest  care 
and  consideration.  Everything,  as  the  document 
sent  to  Bishop  Bagshawe  said,  was  "noticed,  con- 
sidered, and  acknowledged  ; "  every  opportunity 
was  given  to  those  who  wished  to  prevent  me  from 
establishing  this  work  for  the  working  girl.  I  was 
told  by  Mgr.  Gualdi,  that  after  all  had  been  con- 
sidered, and  it  was  proved  that  none  of  the  charges 
against  me  could  be  established,  though  those 
who  were  so  anxious  to  establish  them  were  given 
every  opportunity  to  do  so  ;  that  as  the  last  test  a 
letter  was  written  to  the  bishop  who  professed  me, 
to  ask  his  opinion  as  to  whether  it  would  be  advis- 
able to  allow  me  to  establish  this  work ;  and  that 
it  was  only  when  his  favorable  reply  was  received, 
that  the  final  arrangements  were  made.  Certainly 
it  cannot  be  said  that  there  was  undue  haste,  or 
lack  of  mature  consideration.  My  audience  with 
the  Holy  Father  did  not  take  place  until  all  was 


376 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


settled.  Indeed,  so  particular  was  I  that  I  took 
care  even  to  have  our  dress  approved  by  the 
Sacred  Congregation.  I  had  a  design  for  the  scap- 
ular made  ;  it  was  submitted  to  the  proper  author- 
ity by  Mgr.  Gualdi.  There  was  a  dove  above  the 
cross,  and  it  was  returned  to  me  approved,  with 
the  exception  that  there  was  to  be  a  line  drawn 
between  the  dove  and  the  cross  as  an  indication, 
if  I  understood  it  rightly,  that  the  cross  being  an 
object  of  devotion,  and  the  dove  being  only  an 
emblem,  they  should  be  as  it  were,  distinct.  In- 
deed, I  can  truly  say  that  I  left  nothing  undone 
to  secure  the  approval  of  the  proper  authorities, 
so  little  did  I  expect  that  inferior  authority  would 
condemn  what  was  thus  approved 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

GOING   TO   AMERICA. 

America  Proposed  —  Bishop  Bagshawe  —  His  Character  —  Intrigues  of 
.  English  Catholics  —  Wealth  of  the  American  Catholic  Church  —  Arch- 
Bishop  Corrigan  Calls  for  £400.000  —  My  Plans  Approved  —  The 
Journey  Ordered  —  Canon  Monaghan  Accompanies  Me  —  Cardinal 
Manning's  Friendship  —  Parting  from  my  Sisters  —  Mother  Mary 
Evangelista. 

I  CAME  to  America  in  November,  1884,  by  the 
express  desire  of  my  bishop,  the  Right  Rev.  Dr. 
Bagshawe. 

His  suggestion  seemed  to  me  a  good  one,  and 
there  was  only  one  obstacle,  my  health  ;  but  long 
years  ago  I  made  a  solemn  promise  to  God  which 
I  have  kept  ever  since,  that  I  would  not  allow  my 
personal  interests  or  convenience  or  feelings,  to 
interfere  in  any  way  in  what  I  believed  to  be  for 
the  good  of  religion  and  especially  of  the  religious 
order  to  which  I  belonged ;  and  I  think  I  am 
giving  very  practical  proof  of  my  sincerity  now  in 
leaving  those  who  are  so  infinitely  dear  to  me,  in 
the  hope  that  my  absence  will  remove  from  their 
work  the  prejudices  against  me  which  have  hith- 
erto hindered  it. 

I  must  here  say  a  word  of  Bishop  Bagshawe,  who 
377 


378  ?#£  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

has  long  been  known  in  England  as  a  devoted 
friend  of  the  Irish  cause,  and  who  has  suffered  in 
consequence.  Those  who  are  not  familiar  with 
the  ways  of  the  more  influential  English  Roman 
Catholics,  cannot  form  even  the  least  idea  of  their 
absolute  hatred,  (there  is  no  other  word  for  it)  of 
any  one  who  shows  even  a  passing  sympathy  with 
this  hapless  race.  Like  the  Normans,  who  con- 
sidered themselves  "  born  rulers  of  men,"  they 
justify  their  injustice  in  a  fashion  which  soothes 
their  conscience  and  gives  them  an  appearance  of 
justice  in  the  exercise  of  injustice.  I  have  already 
said  there  are  two  reasons  for  this  injustice  on 
the  part  of  the  English  Roman  Catholics.  They 
hate  their  Irish  Catholic  brethren  both  because 
they  are  poor  and  cannot  pay  extortionate  rents, 
and  because  they  are  fellow  members  of  the  same 
church  ;  and  because  they  are  looked  down  upon 
by  some  English  Protestants,  they  consider  their 
Irish  brethren  a  discredit. 

Since  the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  English  Roman 
Catholics  have  not  ceased  to  use  their  influence  as 
Englishmen,  for  oppressing  their  Irish  brethren 
through  the  court  of  Rome.  The  history  of  their 
ceaseless  and  successful  intrigues  will  form  a  vol- 
ume of  ghastly  reading  at  the  day  of  judgment. 

If  they  had  given  an  example  of  honest  and 
honorable  dealing  towards  their  Roman  Catholic 


CARDINAL   MA. \\\I.\G  IN  DISFAVOR. 


379 


Irish  brethren,  Ireland  would  not  be  as  it  is  to- 
day. But  this  is  a  subject  on  which  I  cannot 
trust  myself  to  say  more. 

These  men  perhaps  hardly  realize  their  real 
motives,  and  they  must  have  some  show  of  justice 
in  all  this  outcry  against  the  Irish.  Yet  so  in- 
tense is  this  animosity  that  it  is  not  merely  the 
Irish  who  are  to  be  crushed  down,  but  also  every- 
one who  sympathizes  with  them. 

Even  Cardinal  Manning  has  not  escaped  ;  it  is 
an  open  secret  that  the  upper  few  thousands  of 
Roman  Catholics  look  coldly  on  his  eminence, 
and  long  for  the  day  when  one  who  has  already 
shown  how  he  can  pour  contempt  on  the  Irish 
people  of  his  diocese  shall  ascend  the  pontifical 
throne.  And  yet  this  very  prelate  has  been 
obliged  to  look  to  Irish  men  and  Irish  women  for 
the  support  of  the  missions  which  he  has  founded 
for  the  colored  people  of  America ;  and  he  might 
abandon  it  to-morrow  if  he  had  not  found  in  them 
the  sympathy  and  help  he  has  looked  for  in  vain 
amongst  his  English  co-religionists  of  whom  he  is 
so  proud. 

That  I  was  in  very  bad  odor  with  this  class  of 
English  Roman  Catholic  ecclesiastics,  is  a  fact 
too  well  known  to  need  further  notice  ;  but  I  was 
quite  unprepared  to  find  that  this  feeling  against 
me,  on  the  ground  of  my  devotion  to  the  Irish 


380 

cause,  extended  to  the  Roman  Catholic  ecclesias- 
tics of  this  free  country. 

One  of  my  books,  "  Advice  to  Irish  Girls  in 
America,"  was  in  the  hands  of  thousands,  and  I 
had  proof  of  this  in  the  shape  of  liberal  payments 
from  the  publishers,  arid  a  host  of  letters  from 
employers,  Protestant  as  well  as  Catholic,  thank- 
ing me  for  having  written  it.* 

I  know  that  any  author  whose  works  have  had  a 
large  circulation  must  always  pay  the  penalty  in 
the  criticisms  of  those  who  have  been  successful 
merely  as  critics,  and  I  did  not  take  much  account 
of  this  kind  of  opposition. 

But  what  I  did  not  expect,  and  what  I  was  not 
prepared  for,  was  the  opposition  which  I  had  to 
meet  from  the  Archbishop  of  New  York.  In  fact, 
I  have  only  quite  lately  come  to  realize  this  in 
full,  and  to  know  the  cause.  It  is  the  same  cause 
which  has  made  English  Roman  Catholics  so  bit- 
ter against  Ireland.  English  Roman  Catholics 
want  their  rents,  and  American  Roman  Catholic 
ecclesiastics  want  the  dollars  of  the  Irish  girl, 
and  cannot  bear  to  see  them  go  to  the  support  of 
any  institutions  except  their  own.  They  have 
opposed  the  Land  League  and  all  its  collections, 

*  An  extract  from  a  letter  received  by  me  from  New  York 
before  I  left  England,  will  show  that  the  feeling  against  me  on  the 
part  of  certain  Roman  Catholic  journalists  there  was  well  known. 
The  letter  will  be  found  in  the  appendix. 


ENORMOUS    WEALTH  OF  THE   CHURCH.    381 

but  this  has  been  done  privately,  for  obvious  rea- 
sons. They  need  Peter's  Pence,  and  a  public 
denunciation  of  collecting  for  Ireland  would  make 
short  work  of  that.  Witness  the  trouble  between 
the  Rev.  Dr.  O'Reilly,  the  Secretary  and  Treasurer 
of  the  Land  League,  and  his  bishop,  which  was 
decided  in  favor  of  the  former,  the  bishop's  denun- 
ciation notwithstanding. 

Ecclesiastics  dare  not  say  a  word  against  a  large 
body  of  men,  and  in  such  matters  they  are  sharp 
enough  to  defer  to  public  opinion.  But  though 
they  cannot  prevent  Land  League  collections, 
they  have  set  a  very  determined  face  against  char- 
itable collections  for  Ireland  ;  and  at  this,  one  can 
scarcely  be  surprised,  considering  the  immense 
number  of  priests  who  come  from  Ireland  to 
America  to  collect,  and  who  seldom  trouble  them- 
selves to  ask  leave  from  any  bishop. 

Still,  the  wealth  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
of  America  is  enormous.  Witness  the  fact  that 
the  new  Rector  of  the  Roman  Catholic  University 
at  Washington  boasts  that  he  has  collected  some- 
thing like  a  million  of  money  already  ;  that  he  col- 
lected $75,000  in  two  parishes  alone  in  Philadel- 
phia, and  yet  he  says  that  "  the  resources  of  the 
country"  for  his  purposes  are  as  yet  "untouched." 
Yet  every  day  new  churches  are  being  erected 
and  the  old  ones  are  still  in  heavy  debt ;  and  the 


382  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

mass  of  the  people  are  beginning  to  complain  and 
ask  what  is  done  with  the  enormous  sums  col- 
lected Sunday  after  Sunday  in  the  church  and  by 
fairs  and  picnics  and  by  individual  collections, 
which  somehow  never  seem  to  lessen  the  debt. 

Given  this  tremendous  call  for  money,  a  million 
here  and  a  million  there,  given  the  fact  that 
$4,000,000,  will  be  needed  for  the  new  university, 
and  that  Archbishop  Corrigan  calls  for  $400,000 
to  set  up  his  own  university  in  New  York,  and 
that  each  of  the  archbishops  will  desire  to  rival 
him  and  have  a  Washington  in  his  own  diocese,  — 
is  it  a  matter  of  surprise  that  outside  collectors 
are  sternly  put  down  ? 

Hence  one  reason  of  which  I  was  entirely  igno- 
rant, why  my  coming  to  America  was  reprobated. 
I  believe  myself  that  this  and  literary  jealousy 
were  the  two  simple  causes  which  made  my  mis- 
sion here,  as  far  as  I  am  concerned,  a  failure.  I 
believe,  however,  that  it  will  be  yet  an  immense 
success,  for  I  leave  it  in  the  hands  of  sisters  who 
are  capable  of  making  it  such.  And  I  hope  the 
interest  which  will  be  revived  when  the  injustice 
with  which  I  have  been  treated  is  known,  will 
help  to  establish  the  sisters  firmly  in  their  great 
work.  For  myself,  I  only  desire  to  pass  out  of 
sight  altogether,  and  to  offer  my  defeat  for  their 
success. 


PREPARING  FOR   AMERICA. 


383 


I  fear  that  the  Archbishop  of  New  York  knew 
perfectly  well  that  the  silly  stories  of  my  having  left 
my  convent  without  leave  or  my  being  "  trouble- 
some to  bishops  "  were  false,  but  it  served  a  pur- 
pose to  believe  them  and  to  circulate  such  reports. 
If  the  American  bishops  did  not  hear  that  the 
reports  against  me  had  been  carefully  investigated 
in  Rome  and  found  entirely  groundless,  it  was 
their  duty  to  have  inquired.  And  certainly  it  was 
their  duty  for  the  sake  of  the  church,  to  have 
sternly  repressed  calumnies  which  reflected  upon 
the  wisdom  and  judgment  of  the  pope  himself. 

With  regard  to  my  plans,  they  were  now  before 
the  world,  and  so  also  were  the  approbation  of 
the  Pope  and  of  my  immediate  ecclesiastical 
superiors. 

As  I  have  said,  my  health  was  the  first  thought 
of  Bishop  Bagshawe.  By  his  desire,  I  consulted  a 
physician  who  was  considered  the  best  in  Notting- 
ham, as  to  the  probable  effects  of  the  voyage  on 
my  constitution. 

It  was  a  supreme  moment  for  me ;  I  did  hope 
the  decision  might  be  that  I  was  entirely  unfit  for 
such  an  undertaking,  for  I  shrank  from  the  very 
thought  of  it,  little  as  I  anticipated  the  result. 
The  doctor's  decision  was  plain  and  straightfor- 
ward. After  a  long  and  careful  examination,  he 
told  me  that  I  was  entirely  unfit  for  such  a  jour- 


384  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

ney,  but,  he  said,  "  You  know  your  own  business. 
If  no  one  else  can  carry  it  out,  I  would  not  say 
that  the  voyage  will  shorten  your  life  nor  advise 
you  against  going." 

I  reported  the  decision  to  the  bishop,  and  left 
the  matter  wholly  in  his  hands.  He  wished  me  to 
go  and  take  the  risk,  and,  notwithstanding  all  the 
sufferings  I  have  had,  I  believe  he  decided  rightly ; 
at  all  events,  my  course  was  clear  when  he  gave  me 
his  decision. 

There  was  one  point  on  which  I  insisted 
strongly,  and  that  was  that  I  should  have  a  priest 
with  me  ;  I  thought  the  presence  of  a  priest,  be- 
sides the  personal  comfort  to  myself,  would  show 
that  I  had  come  with  full  ecclesiastical  approba- 
tion. I  never  anticipated  that  the  priest  himself 
would  be  made  the  subject  of  gross  discourtesy. 

The  bishop  chose  the  Very  Rev.  Canon  Mona- 
ghan,  our  confessor,  the  chaplain  of  our  convent  at 
Nottingham,  a  devoted  Irishman,  and  a  well-known 
advocate  of  the  temperance  cause.  There  was 
yet  one  other  suggestion  which  I  made  to  Bishop 
Bagshawe,  with  which  he  did  not  agree.  1  again 
obeyed,  but  the  consequence  of  my  obedience  has 
been,  I  fear,  the  cause  of  a  good  deal  of  my  subse- 
quent suffering. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  I  have  had  occasion 
to  speak  of  Cardinal  Manning's  friendship  to 


PARTING  FROM   THE  SISTERS.  385 

myself,  and  his  special  interest  in  the  order  which 
I  had  founded  ;  indeed,  he  has  preached  quite 
lately  for  our  institution  in  Nottingham,  and  sent 
me  an  affectionate  message  and  blessing  through 
Bishop  Bagshawe.  I  was  very  anxious  to  see  his 
eminence  before  leaving  England  to  have  his 
advice  and  blessing,  and  to  ask  him  for  an  intro- 
duction to  some  of  the  American  bishops  whom  he 
knew.  But  for  reasons,  which  respect  for  Bishop 
Bagshawe  prevent  me  from  giving,  he  expressed  a 
strong  desire  that  I  should  neither  go  nor  write  to 
Cardinal  Manning,  and  I  obeyed.  Had  I  brought 
a  letter  from  his  eminence  with  me,  the  arch- 
bishop of  New  York  and  his  vicar-general  might 
have  shown  Canon  Monaghan  and  myself  at  least 
common  courtesy  ;  yet,  when  the  Holy  Father's 
approval  of  my  work  was  not  respected,  perhaps 
nothing  else  would  have  availed. 

I  need  scarcely  say  that  the  parting  from  the 
sisters  was  sad  and  painful  ;  they  knew  too  well 
that  the  journey  might  prove  fatal  to  me,  and  we 
might  never  meet  again.  But  I  knew  also  with 
what  generosity  they  made  the  sacrifice,  —  was  it 
not  to  extend  the  work  blessed  by  the  head  of  the 
church,  to  help  our  poor  brave  Irish  girls  as  we 
sisters  only  could  help  them  ?  had  they  not  also 
crossed  the  ocean  ?  They  support  their  parents  at 
home,  they  keep  up  the  church  in  America,  they 


386 


THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


give  almost  their  last  dollar  to  the  pastor  of  their 
church,  and  who  helps  them  ?  When  they  are  sick 
there  were  no  homes  for  them  ;  when  they  were 
weary,  there  was  no  rest  for  them  ;  who  was  to 
teach  them  the  strange  ways  of  a  s"trange  land,  or 
look  after  their  temporal  as  well  as  their  spiritual 
interest  ? 

Oh,  sad !  oh,  selfish  !  oh,  fatal  policy  which 
shields  itself  under  the  cloak  of  religion,  but 
knows  not  true  religion.  Avarice  and  greed  have 
been  the  ruin  of  the  church  in  many  lands,  and 
will  yet,  if  God  forbids  it  not,  be  the  ruin  of  the 
church  of  this  country. 

I  set  out  for  America  as  full  of  hope  as  I  could 
be,  considering  the  disappointments  of  the  past ; 
but  if  I  went  weeping  and  sowing  the  good  seed,  I 
knew  that  the  harvest  is  not  here,  I  knew  that  the 
time  of  harvest  is  not  yet. 

My  companion  dear  to  my  heart  was,  I  need 
not  say,  Mother  Mary  Evangelista,  on  whose  gen- 
tle and  loving  soul  now  falls  the  burden  of  the 
office  which  I  have  laid  down,  only  because  I  am 
no  longer  able  to  carry  it.  For  me  there  has  been 
no  golden  jubilee,  no  silver  jubilee,  none  of  those 
honors  and  appreciations  which  are  the  portion  of 
the  priest  and  sister  who  has  worked  so  long  in 
the  church's  vineyard.  For  me  there  has  been 
only  the  heavy  burden  of  sorrow  and  age  j  but  it 


A   LABOR  FOR    THE  DESPISED.  387 

cannot  now  be  long  ere  I  am  called  to  the  eternal 
rest.  I  have  worked  for  a  despised  people,  and 
with  them  I  must  suffer. 

No  doubt  if  I  had  less  used  the  gifts  which 
God  has  given  me,  and  had  kept  silent  when  I 
saw  oppression,  and  had  not  spoken  out  when  I 
saw  the  sufferings  of  the  poor,  and  had  observed  a 
respectable  mediocrity  in  well-doing,  I  should  now 
have  applause  where  I  receive  condemnation  ;  I 
should  have  now  good  will  where  I  found  only 
opposition.  Above  all,  if  I  had  devoted  my  life  to 
the  service  of  the  rich,  my  success  would  certainly 
have  been  great  here  if  not  hereafter. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

ARRIVAL   IN   NEW   YORK. 

Refused  an  Interview  by  Cardinal  McClosky  and  Bishop  Corrigan  —  Inex- 
cusable Discourtesy  —  Comment  of  Mgr.  Capel  —  Word  of  Avoidance 
Passed  Around  —  Opposed  by  Mgr.  Quinn  —  Letter  to  Cardinal  Mc- 
Closky—  Circular  in  Aid  of  Immigrants —  Miss  Charlotte  O'Brien  — 
The  Bishop  of  Cloyne—  His  Interest  —  Forbidden  to  Work  at  Castle 
Garden  —  Father  Riordan's  Mission  there. 

CANON  MONAGHAN  had  brought  with  him  all  the 
necessary  credentials  from  our  English  ecclesiasti- 
cal superior,  and  he  waited  on  Cardinal  McCloskey 
to  present  them  in  person.  The  canon  and  my- 
self were  peremptorily  refused  an  interview,  not 
only  by  the  cardinal  but  by  Archbishop  Corrigan, 
then  coadjutor  bishop.  For  this  marked  discour- 
tesy, there  was  no  excuse,  and  it  had  the  effect 
which  was  no  doubt  intended.  The  reader  may 
imagine  my  grief  and  dismay  ;  I  had  been  received 
with  marked  kindness  and  I  might  say  respect  in 
Rome,  but  as  Canon  Monaghan  said,  "  I  was  good 
enough  for  the  Vatican,  but  I  was  not  good  enough 
for  the  Episcopal  Palace  in  New  York." 

But  there  was  at  this  time,  a  visitor  in  New 
York  who  received  very  different  treatment.  Mgr. 
Capel  had  preceded  me,  and  was  duly  honored  by 
388 


INDIGNATION  OF  MGR.    CAP  EL.  389 

Archbishop  Corrigan  and  his  friends,  who  gave 
him  leave  to  preach  and  lecture  where  he  pleased. 
He  soon  heard  of  the  very  different  reception 
which  was  given  to  me  and  called  on  me  at  the 
hotel  where  I  was  staying,  with  an  offer  of  his 
services  and  many  expressions  of  indignation  for 
the  way  in  which  I  was  treated. 

"  Indeed,"  he  said,  with  some  contempt,  "  if 
they  were  gentlemen,  at  least,  they  would  treat  a 
lady  differently."  I  declined  his  offers  of  services, 
very  much  to  the  disappointment  of  Canon  Mona- 
ghan.  If  I  had  accepted  them  and  arranged  for 
a  series  of  lectures,  as  he  proposed,  no  doubt  I 
should  have  realized  a  very  large  sum  of  money 
for  the  support  of  our  institution.  But  I  did  not 
think  that  money  obtained  in  this  way  would 
have  any  special  grace,  though  I  have  no  doubt, 
it  would  have  obtained  some  favor  from  those  who 
appreciate  success,  and  honor  wealth  at  the  ex- 
pense of  poverty. 

There  were  many  circumstances  over  which  I 
had  no  control  connected  with  my  coming  to 
America  which  were  very  much  to  my  disadvan- 
tage ;  at  the  same  time,  I  must  say  that  if  there 
had  been  an  intelligent,  perhaps  I  should  rather 
say  a  Christian  interest  in  my  work,  they  should 
not  have  had  the  least  weight.  They  were  such 
circumstances  as  would  not  have  been  considered 


390 


7W.fi   NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


for  a  moment,  unless  there  was  an  object  in  find- 
ing fault.  But  they  were  just  the  circumstances 
which  could  be  used  to  my  disadvantage  by  those 
who  wanted  to  prevent  the  success  of  this  work. 
It  is  sad  to  say  this,  but  it  is  true.  When  I  arrived 
in  America,  I  had  not  the  least  idea  where  I  was 
to  stay ;  I  never  thought  of  asking  to  go  to  a  con- 
vent, and  even  if  I  had  thought  of  it,  I  would 
probably  not  have  asked,  with  my  former  experi- 
ence. Besides,  I  had  been  long  enough  a  sister 
to  know  how  often  jealousy  interferes  with  good 
works.  But  the  arrangements  that  were  made  for 
me  were  singularly  unfortunate.  I  was  so  ill 
going  from  Liverpool  to  Queenstown  that  I  was 
obliged  to  remain  in  Queenstown  a  week  before  I 
was  able  to  continue  my  journey  to  New  York. 
Canon  Monaghan  who  travelled  with  us,  insisted 
on  going  on  to  New  York  without  me.  I  requested 
him  not  to  do  anything  until  I  arrived,  but  he 
thought  it  too  long  to  wait,  and  his  mistaken  zeal 
led  to  consequences  which  were  not  to  our  mutual 
advantage. 

A  place  should  have  been  taken  for  me  in  a 
quiet,  private  house,  and  not  in  a  public  and  ex- 
pensive hotel.  Of  all  these  arrangements  I  was 
totally  ignorant,  until  I  arrived,  and  it  was  too 
late  to  alter  them  ;  and,  as  I  have  said,  if  I  had 
been  received  in  a  friendly  spirit,  all  would  have 


FALSE   REPORTS    CIRCULATED. 


391 


been  well.  But  those  who  were  looking  for 
causes  against  me  found  them  ready  to  their 
hand. 

In  addition  to  this,  reports  were  given  out, 
either  to  injure  me,  or  from  ignorance,  that  I  was 
come  to  collect  an  immense  sum  of  money  for  a 
cathedral  in  Nottingham,  which  report  had  the 
effect  which  was  intended.  The  Irish  people  were 
more  or  less  deliberately  deceived  about  the  cir- 
cumstances under  which  I  had  left  Knock,  and  it 
was  not  difficult  to  excite  feeling  against  me. 

Further,  I  learned  later  that  some  one  in  Ire- 
land had  been  busy  writing  to  the  American 
bishops  against  me.  Why  they  had  preferred 
believing  these  false  reports  to  the  testimony  of 
the  Pope  and  Propaganda,  I  cannot  tell. 

I  heard  from  a  gentleman  who  had  good  oppor- 
tunities of  knowledge,  that  the  Jesuit  fathers  had 
been  specially  warned  against  me,  which  was  curi- 
ous, considering  that  it  was  a  Jesuit  father  who 
had  been  my  great  helper  and  encourager  in  all 
my  troubles,  as  his  letters  show.  However,  I 
came  to  know  later  that  there  is  not  quite  as  much 
harmony  even  in  the  religious  orders  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  church  as  those  outside  suppose. 

I  now  met  with  a  very  serious  accident,  which 
compelled  me  to  remain  longer  at  the  hotel  than  I 
wished.  Again  I  was  at  the  mercy  of  circum- 


392 


THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


stances,  over  which  I  had  no  control,  and  at  the 
mercy  of  people  who  did  not  concern  themselves 
to  inquire  whether  their  denunciations  of  my 
character  were  justified  by  facts. 

How  far  his  Eminence  Cardinal  McCloskey  was 
or  was  not  able  to  attend  to  affairs  at  this  time 
personally,  I  do  not  know,  but  his  name  was  used 
by  Mgr.  Preston  in  a  letter  to  Canon  Monahan, 
now  before  me.  It  is  no  wonder  that  all  the 
rumors  which  were  carefully  circulated  about  me 
were  believed,  when  those  who  circulated  them 
could  say,  that  the  archbishop  had  refused  even  to 
see  the  Nun  of  Kenmare ;  and  this  refusal  to  see 
me  told  on  the  public,  as  no  doubt  it  was  intended 
to  do.  Every  one  knew  how  cordially  other  sisters 
had  been  received,  how  priests  came  to  New  York 
and  were  often  allowed  to  collect,  whose  missions 
certainly  were  not  so  specially  and  openly  approved 
by  the  Holy  Father  and  Propaganda  as  mine 
was. 

I  could  not  understand  how  it  was  every  one 
avoided  me.  Later  on,  I  learned  that  the  word 
had  been  passed  around  through  the  priests,  that  I 
was  not  to  be  received  by  any  one  The  working 
men  and  women  of  New  York,  I  have  heard,  were 
longing  to  see  me.  They  knew  my  work  for  the 
old  land,  but  they  did  not  know  what  to  do.  They 
were  expecting  day  after  day  that  there  would  be 


LETTER    TO   CARDINAL   MeCLOSKY. 


393 


a  lecture  or  a  meeting,  or  some  public  notice  of 
my  arrival.  Reports  were  widely  circulated 
against  me,  notwithstanding  the  authorization  I 
had  brought  with  me  from  the  Holy  See.  It  was 
said  that  I  had  been  disobedient  to  my  bishop  in 
Ireland,  though  no  one  seemed  to  know  who  the 
bishop  was.  It  was,  indeed,  a  time  of  darkness 
and  sorrow  to  me,  and  I  had  not  then  realized  the 
utter  hopelessness  of  trying  to  carry  on  work  to 
which  the  bishops  were  determinedly  opposed,  no 
matter  what  papal  sanction  I  might  have. 

One  of  my  principal  opponents  was  the  late 
Mgr.  Quinn ;  he  even  went  so  far  as  to  tell  a 
Protestant  lady,  who  was  very  much  interested  in 
my  plans  for  working  girls,  that  I  was  disobedient 
to  my  bishop  in  Ireland,  and  to  try  to  prevent  her 
from  interesting  herself  in  my  work. 

Canon  Monahan  was  by  no  means  easily  dis- 
couraged ;  he  made  repeated  efforts  to  see  Mgr. 
Preston  and  to  explain  matters  to  him,  but  he 
was  always  put  off  with  an  evasive  and  not  very 
courteous  answer. 

Finding  that  matters  were  becoming  more  and 
more  hopeless,  I  thought  that  I  had  better  address  a 
letter  to  Cardinal  McCloskey  myself,  knowing  that 
if  it  did  not  reach  him,  it  must  reach  his  assistant, 
Archbishop  Corrigan.  I  have  kept  a  copy  of  the 
letter,  which  I  append  here. 


394  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

"December  31,  1884. 

"My  DEAR  LORD  CARDINAL,  —  As  I  find  that 
false  and  very  cruel  reports  are  circulating  about 
me  amongst  your  eminence's  clergy,  I  write  to  beg 
most  earnestly  that  you  will  allow  me  an  interview 
with  you,  when  I  can  show  you  letters  from  Arch- 
bishop Croke  and  other  Irish  ecclesiastical  digni- 
taries, any  one  of  which  will  prove  that  I  have 
been  very  cruelly  and  unjustly  slandered. 

"  My  Lord  Cardinal,  we  are  neither  of  us  young, 
and  we  must  both  stand  before  the  judgment  seat 
of  God  shortly ;  if  your  eminence  will  do  me  an 
act  of  justice,  God  will  repay  you  in  that  awful 
hour.  My  lord  let  me  not  plead  with  you  in 
vain. 

"The  matter  is  one  of  great  moment  to  me, 
and  it  is  of  still  more  moment  to  our  holy  Faith. 
It  is  very  natural  that  the  refusal  of  the  ecclesias- 
tical authorities  in  New  York  even  to  see  me  has 
occasioned  a  belief  in  these  false  and  scandalous 
reports. 

"The  principal  scandals  which  were  circulated 
about  me  were:  that  I  left  Kenmare  without 
leave,  and  that  I  took  money  from  Knock  which 
belonged  to  it;  both  of  these  charges  were  as  false 
as  they  were  malicious.  I  am  no  saint,  but  your 
eminence  has  read  the  lives  of  the  saints,  and  you 
know  how  often  and  how  cruelly  the  founders  of 
religious  orders  were  belied  and  misrepresented 
even  by  good  people.  Surely,  the  Holy  Father's 


THE  HOME  FOR   EMIGRANT  GIRLS. 


395 


approval  of  my  work  should  be  sufficient  to  bring 
the  encouragement  of  every  bishop  in  the  land. 
I  remain,  my  Lord  Cardinal, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  SISTER  MARY  FRANCIS  CLARE, 

Mother-General  of  the  Sisters  of  Peace. 

To  this  letter  I  received  no  reply,  and  this  was 
the  first  of  many  appeals  which  I  have  made  un- 
successfully to  the  Roman  Catholic  bishops  of 
America  to  give  me  a  few  moments  of  their  time 
to  see  for  themselves  what  was  true  and  what  was 
false.  Nor  could  it  be  said  that  the  work  which  I 
asked  to  do  was  not  wanted  in  America.  Never 
was  such  a  work  more  needed,  and  this  has  been 
made  evident  by  the  large  number  of  homes  and 
institutions  for  girls  which  have  been  established 
within  the  last  two  years  by  Protestant  ladies. 
These  homes  are,  open  to  Roman  Catholics,  and 
Roman  Catholic  girls  make  large  use  of  them,  find- 
ing no  such  help  in  their  own  community. 

My  first  consideration  in  America  was  the  work 
for  immigrant  girls.  As  we  had  large  schools  in 
Kenmare,  I  knew  the  difficulties  of  these  girls  in 
obtaining  employment.  And  with  strange  igno- 
rance of  their  own  best  advantage,  Irish  land- 
lords are  unwearied  in  getting  rid  of  their  tenants, 
and  girls  are  sent  in  droves  to  America. 

In   the   summer   of    1881    I   issued   a  circular, 


396  THE  N&N  OF  KENMARE. 

which  will  be  found  below,  and  to  which  I  desire 
to  call  special  attention,  in  view  of  circumstances 
to  be  related  presently. 

Miss  Charlotte  O'Brien,  a  near  relative  of  Mrs. 
Monsell,  of  the  Clewer  sisterhood,  and  who  was 
also  a  relative  of  mine,  came  to  me  to  Kenmare, 
on  the  subject  of  protecting  emigrant  girls,  before 
she  went  to  America  for  the  same  purpose. 

I  was  always  ready  to  help  a  good  work,  es- 
pecially where  girls  were  concerned ;  but  there 
were  many  difficulties  in  my  way.  I  sent  this 
circular  to  all  the  bishops  in  Ireland,  and  had 
some  warm  letters  of  recommendation  and  en- 
couragement, — 

EMIGRANTS'  AID  AND  PROTECTION  SOCIETY. 

"  It  is  proposed  to  form  an  Emigrant's  Aid  and 
Protection  Society,  with  the  sanction  of  ecclesias- 
tical authority,  under  the  protection  of  Our  Lady 
Star  of  the  Sea  and  St.  Raphael.  The  special 
sanction  of  his  lordship  the  Bishop  of  Cloyne  has 
been  obtained. 

"  The  necessity  for  such  a  society  need  scarcely 
be  insisted  on.  Every  day  thousands  of  our  peo- 
ple are  leaving  Ireland  and  England  for  America, 
and  too  often  they  go  as  little  prepared  spiritually 
as  temporarily  ;  hence  so  many  are  lost  to  the 
faith.  Whatever  opinion  many  of  us  may  have  as 
to  the  cause  of  emigration,  of  the  fact  there  is  no 


PROSPECTUS  OF  THE  HOME. 


question.  The  society  of  Our  Lady  Star  of  the 
Sea  will  not  interfere  in  any  way  for  or  against 
emigration.  Its  object  is  purely  to  give  spiritual 
aid  to  those  who  will  and  do  emigrate.  But  even 
in  a  temporal  point  of  view  such  aid  cannot  fail  to 
be  beneficial. 

"  We  cannot  but  hope  that  in  saving  thousands 
of  immortal  souls  from  danger,  we  shall  also  help 
them  to  be  better  citizens  of  their  new  country, 
and  thus  to  benefit  even  the  country  of  their 
birth.  Miss  Charlotte  O'Brien,  with  a  most 
commendable  zeal,  has  called  public  attention  to 
the  fearful  dangers  through  which  our  emigrants, 
and  especially  our  female  emigrants,  pass.  She 
has  urged  the  writer  of  this,  in  words  of  no  ordi- 
nary fervor,  to  undertake  the  promotion  of  a 
society  for  their  protection.  She  says,  '  Of  gold 
and  silver  or  merchandise,  careful  invoices  are 
kept,  but  of  the  human  soul  no  word  is  known.' 
The  object  of  this  society  will  be  human  souls,  the 
most  glorious  object  which  we  can  possibly  have, 
since  it  was  the  one  object  of  the  life  of  our  divine 
Lord  on  earth. 

The  Work  of  This  Society. 

"  It  is  proposed  that  this  society  should  be 
placed  under  the  protection  of  the  most  reverend, 
the  archbishops  and  the  bishops  of  the  whole 
English-speaking  world. 

"  i.    That   the   society    should   be   under    the 


398  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

direction  of  a  priest,  whose  exclusive  work  it  shall 
be.  God  will  provide  one. 

"2.  That  as  soon  as  possible,  a  congregation  of 
priests  should  be  located  at  Queenstown,  Cork, 
and  in  New  York,  devoted  to  this  special  work. 
God  will  inspire  some  of  our  religious  orders  to 
take  up  this  work.  We  have  already  hopes  that  a 
congregation  of  missionary  priests  will  take  it  up 
as  part  of  their  work.  One  of  these  priests,  if 
possible,  and  if  a  sufficient  staff  can  be  had,  would 
go  out  in  each  vessel  with  emigrants. 

"3.  Corresponding  secretaries  would  be  ap- 
pointed at  Queenstown  and  in  New  York,  to  look 
after  the  embarkation  and  the  debarkation  of  emi- 
grants, to  take  charge  of  those  who  are  friendless 
until  they  are  placed  in  the  hands  of  friends,  or  in 
respectable  situations,  and  to  advise  the  pastors  of 
American  cities  and  other  places  of  the  new  addi- 
tions to  their  flocks.  It  is  hoped  that  this  would 
save  thousands,  if  not  millions,  from  falling  away 
from  the  church,  and  that  it  would  probably  be 
the  means  of  reclaiming  multitudes  who  have  so 
fallen. 

"  4.  In  order  to  make  the  working  of  this 
society  as  perfect  as  possible,  it  is  proposed  that 
an  organization  should  be  formed  in  every  parish 
in  Ireland  and  America,  and,  as  far  as  possible,  in 
the  large  English  towns  where  there  is  a  large 
Irish  population,  and  that  all  Catholics  should  be 
asked  to  join  the  society  as  honorary  or  active 


PROSPECTUS  CONTINUED. 


•members  ;  the  parish  priest  in  all  cases  to  be  the 
president  ;  the  active  members  to  form  a  small 
committee,  with  a  secretary  and  treasurer. 

"  The  duty  of  the  secretary  will  be  to  ascertain 
the  names  and  the  addresses  of  the  persons  about 
to  emigrate,  which  could  be  easily  obtained  from 
the  emigration  agents,  as  well  as  from  other 
sources ;  to  ascertain  the  destination  of  the  emi- 
grants, and  to  forward  the  name  and  particulars  to 
the  secretary  in  Oueenstown  or  New  York,  as  may 
be  arranged.  The  treasurer  will  collect  and  re- 
ceive donations  for  the  general  fund,  which  need 
not  be  large,  as  we  know  what  has  been  done 
for  the  propagation  of  the  faith  by  the  pence  of 
the  poor. 

"  All  the  members,  whether  honorary  or  active, 
to  contribute  one  penny  per  month  to  the  general 
fund,  and  to  say  daily  one  Hail  Mary  for  all  emi- 
grants, and  the  invocation,  '  Our  Lady,  Star  of  the 
Sea,  protect  us  until  we  reach  the  safe  haven  of 
eternity ;  St.  Raphael,  friend  of  wanderers,  be  our 
guide  through  life  ! ' 

"  5.  The  active  members  will  undertake  to  do 
their  best  to  induce  all  emigrants  to  approach  the 
sacraments  before  leaving  Ireland,  and,  where  it 
may  be  necessary,  to  bring  them  to  a  priest  or 
nun  for  instruction  ;  or,  should  this  help  not  be 
available,  to  give  them  the  necessary  instruction. 
Even  those  who  are  most  occupied  during  the 
week  could  find  time  on  Sundays  for  this  good 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


work,  and  thus  obtain  for  themselves  and  families 
a  great  reward  from  God. 

"  As  this  society  is  intended  for  all  —  both 
young  and  old,  rich  and  poor  —  it  is  hoped  that 
it  may  be  the  means  of  helping  the  spiritual  life  of 
all. 

"Since  we  are  all  travellers  to  another  country, 
we  need,  each  and  all,  the  succor  of  Our  Lady 
Star  of  the  Sea  to  protect  us  in  our  passage  over 
the  stormy  ocean  of  life  to  the  haven  of  rest.  We 
need  the  help  of  dear  St.  Raphael  for  ourselves, 
our  families,  our  friends,  for  all  our  little  or  our 
great  adventures  in  life.  Hence,  this  is  a  society 
for  all  — a  help  for  all.  If,  indeed,  hard  times  are 
coming  for  the  church  of  God,  we  need  to  cling 
closer  to  each  other  to  help  and  support  each 
other  with  the  love  and  fervor  of  the  early  Chris- 
tians. And  how  many  there  are  who  are  heart- 
broken, because  some  friend  or  brother  has  been 
swamped  or  shipwrecked  in  the  treacherous  sea  of 
temptation.  Do  we  not  need  the  prayers  of  such 
a  society  to  reclaim  them  ?  And  then  in  helping 
others  we  are  helping  ourselves,  and  obtaining  new 
strength  and  grace  for  our  own  journey  and  for  its 
happy  termination. 

"  6.  The  national  schoolmasters  of  Ireland, 
who  have  been  so  faithful  to  their  great  trust, 
will,  no  doubt,  help  this  well.  If  the  confrater- 
nity was  established  in  every  convent  school,  it 
could  be  made  a  centre  of  salvation,  not  only 


THE  SUBJECT  DISCUSSED.  401 

for  the  children  of  the  school  —  so  many  of 
whom  will  emigrate  —  but  for  all  others  in  the 
parish,  who  could  be  most  effectively  reached  in 
this  way. 

"  It  is  hoped  that,  after  a  time,  the  Holy  See 
will  approve  of  this  association,  and  allow  it  to  be 
erected  into  a  confraternity. 

"  SISTER  MARY  FRANCIS  CLARE. 

"  KENMARE  Co.,  KERRY. 

"  Feast  of  Corpus  CAristi,  1879." 

Indeed  I  had  been  so  long  interested  in  the 
whole  question  of  preparation  for  emigration,  that 
some  time  before  I  had  written  a  paper  on  the 
subject  for  the  Social  Science  Congress  in  Dublin. 
This  paper,  which  gave  rise  to  a  great  deal  of  use- 
ful discussion,  was  read  for  me  by  Dr.  Mapother, 
the  President  of  the  College  of  Surgeons,  Dublin. 
Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  I  was  long  at  work  on 
this  important  subject,  and  could  not  be  accused 
of  having  taken  it  up  as  any  new  idea  of  interfer- 
ing with  Father  Riordan's  plans.  Indeed  I  have 
heard  from  several  persons  that  it  was  my  persist- 
ent agitation  of  the  subject  which  made  him  take 
it  up.  Be  this  as  it  may,  there  was  a  great  field 
for  us  both. 

Soon  after,  the  Bishop  of  Cloyne,  the  Right  Rev. 
Dr.  McCarthy,  sent  a  priest  to  me  to  Kenmare, 
to  see  what  could  be  done  about  establishing  a 


4O2 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


place  in  Queenstown,  where  a  special  house  for 
emigrant  girls  is  quite  as  much  needed  as  in  New 
York,  and  towards  this  project  Miss  O'Brien  prom- 
ised liberal  help.  But,  as  I  have  said,  there  were 
difficulties  put  in  my  way  by  the  sisters. 

When  I  was  on  my  way  to  America,  I  saw  the 
Bishop  of  Cloyne  at  Queenstown,  and  had  every 
expectation  of  getting  a  house  established  there, 
to  correspond  with  one  in  America,  for  emigrant 
girls. 

I  believe  the  opposition  to  this  plan,  which  I  met 
from  ecclesiastical  authority  in  New  York,  was 
caused  partly  by  a  very  absurd  idea  that  my  ar- 
rangements might  interfere  with  those  of  Father 
Riordan,  who  had  opened  a  sort  of  mission  for 
girls  at  Castle  Garden,  and  who  was  anxious  to 
build  a  church  there,  on  the  somewhat  romantic 
idea  that  the  girls  who  landed  from  Ireland  should 
see  a  church  immediately  on  their  arrival.  Cer- 
tainly, if  they  had  not  learned  their  religion  in 
Ireland,  seeing  a  church  when  they  landed  in 
America  would  not  teach  them  much.  But  build- 
ing churches  is  always  acceptable  to  certain  eccle- 
siastics, and  will  always  be  encouraged,  no  matter 
how  unnecessary  they  may  be,  or  how  heavy  the 
debt  incurred  in  consequence. 

It  was  at  once  decided  that  I  should  not  be 
allowed  to  establish  any  kind  of  home  in  Castle 


FATHER  RIORDAN'S  HOME. 


403 


Garden,  or  have  any  connection  with  it.  Yet,  to 
say  the  least,  what  harm  could  I  have  done  there  ? 
And  what  could  a  man  do  in  such  a  position  ?  It 
was  woman's  work  essentially.  Poor  Father 
Riordan  is  gone  now,  —  what  harm  would  it  have 
done  him  if  he  had  allowed  me  to  join  in  his  work, 
and  to  do  what  he  could  not  do  ?  In  fact  he  really 
spent  a  very  small  portion  of  his  time  in  Castle 
Garden,  for  I  called  there  many  times  to  see  him, 
and  he  was  almost  always  absent.  Still,  no  doubt, 
the  protection  of  a  priest  was  desirable  and  useful. 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

GOOD    WORKS    THAT    HAVE    NOT    BEEN    ACCOM- 
PLISHED. 

Mission  of  the  Church  —  Sisterhoods  Often  Opposed  —  Catholic  Perse- 
cution of  her  own  Saints  —  Oppressed  when  Living  —  Canonized  when 
Dead  —  La  Salle  an  Example  —  The  Church  Afraid  to  let  the  Truth 
be  Known  —  The  Poor  Neglected  —  Priests  Suppressed  —  Established 
in  Jersey  City  —  Rude  Treatment  in  Philadelphia  —  Project  for  Blind 
Asylum  Abandoned. 

THERE  is  one  express  precept  of  Holy  Scripture 
about  which  there  can  be  no  dispute,  and  that  is 
the  duty  of  charity.  What  we  do  to  one  of  the 
least  is  counted  as  done  to  Him,  who,  for  love  of 
us,  became  the  lowest  and  least  of  all  men. 

Again  and  again  the  rich  rewards  of  Heaven, 
where  only  rewards  are  worth  having,  since  it  is 
only  there  that  they  will  be  eternal,  are  promised 
even  for  a  cup  of  cold  water  given  in  his  name. 

The  Roman  Catholic  church  points  with  pride 
to  her  charitable  institutions,  and  the  world,  too 
often  taking  such  statements  at  her  own  valuation, 
looks  on  and  applauds,  and  envies  this  magnificent 
organization.  But  how  little  of  the  truth  is  known. 
The  crushing  hand  of  ecclesiastical  despotism 
stifles  every  cry  of  suffering  or  complaint.  How 

404 


OPPOSITION   TO  SISTERHOODS. 


405 


then  is  the  world,  how  is  even  the  Roman  Catholic 
world,  to  know  facts  as  they  are  ?  There  is  also  a 
certain  romance,  and  I  use  the  word  in  its  best 
sense,  about  a  convent  life,  and  while  there  is  so 
much  hard  and  painful  fact  in  this  poor  world  of 
ours,  we  do  not  like  to  be  disillusioned  or  have  our 
little  glimpses  of  Heaven  taken  from  us.  I  know 
that  Roman  Catholics  will  cry  out  with  indigna- 
tion, and  Protestants  with  amazement,  when  I  say 
that  the  sisterhoods  in  the  Roman  Catholic  church 
have  often  succeeded,  not  because  of  the  help  of 
the  church,  but  in  the  face  of  its  determined,  and, 
I  might  say,  often  cruel  opposition. 

What  a  revelation  there  will  be  at  the  last  great 
day,  when  all  hidden  things  are  made  known. 

I  give  proof  of  what  I  assert.  Facts  may  be 
explained  away  and  glossed  over,  but  they  remain 
facts  all  the  same.  Let  the  reader  take  up  the 
life  of  the  founder  or  foundress  of  any  religious 
order  and  read  it,  and  the  truth  of  what  I  say  will 
be  made  apparent ;  and  let  it  be  carefully  noted 
that  the  lives  of  saints  are  not  written  by  Protes- 
tants, nor  by  enemies  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
church.  No,  they  are  written  by  priests  who,  for 
the  most  part,  would  naturally  be  anxious  to  con- 
ceal all  these  things,  and  who  do  conceal  as  much 
as  possible. 

It  is  probable  that  the  world  would  never  be 


406  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

allowed  to  know  one  word  of  this  Roman  Catholic 
persecution  of  her  own  saints,  if  it  were  not  that  a 
divine  Providence  has  so  ordered  it  that  at  least 
some  facts  must  be  known.  In  order  to  obtain  the 
canonization  of  a  saint,  it  is  necessary  to  prove 
that  he  or  she  has  practised  virtue  in  what  is 
called  an  heroic  degree.  Hence,  it  becomes  neces- 
sary for  the  promoter  of  a  cause  for  canonization 
to  tell  at  least  some  of  the  sufferings  which  have 
been  borne  by  the  person  to  be  canonized.  Thus, 
the  truth,  or  at  least  some  truth,  comes  out. 

And  what  a  sad  record  these  lives  are.  A  man 
or  a  woman,  priest  or  nun,  is,  according  to  the 
teaching  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  inspired 
by  God  to  do  the  noblest  work  that  man  or  woman 
can  do.  He  or  she  gives  up  all  life's  innocent 
pleasures,  all  human  natural  interests,  and  all  hope 
of  personal  advantage.  They  devote  their  exis- 
tence to  the  poor  of  Jesus  Christ.  Might  it  not  be 
supposed  that  words  of  hope  and  encouragement 
and  comfort,  would  be  given  to  them  by  the  minis- 
ters of  their  church  ?  Might  it  not  be  supposed 
that  they  would  be  at  least  tolerated  ?  But  no, 
persecution  of  the  most  unwarrantable  kind  follows 
them  for  the  most  part  to  the  grave,  and  when 
there  is  no  longer  need  of  human  comfort,  or  that 
spiritual  comfort  which  is  their  due  as  children  of 
the  church,  they  are  suddenly  resuscitated  for 


POST-MORTEM  HONORS. 


407 


post-mortem  honors  and  post-mortem  applause. 
If  indeed  they  are  saints  and  with  God,  with  what 
pity  they  must  look  down  on  this  folly.  They  have 
their  reward  in  the  eternal  sunshine  of  their  God. 
They  have  their  honors  in  his  praise,  and  his 
praise  is  unchangeable.  And  now  the  infallible 
successors  of  the  infallible  men  who  made  their 
lives  a  long  weariness,  turn  round  and  find  out 
they  were  saints,  and  fall  down  and  worship  them. 
To  those  dear  souls,  who  loved  God  so  well  and  his 
creatures  for  love  of  Him,  one  little  word  or  act 
that  would  have  helped  them  to  accomplish  this 
work  for  his  poor  would  have  been  far  dearer  than 
the  post-mortem  honors  that  have  been  so  lavishly 
heaped  upon  them.  It  was  not  for  themselves 
they  felt  this  suffering,  it  was  only  because  it 
injured  the  cause  for  which  they  lived  and  died. 

It  is  time  for  the  children  of  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic church  to  awake  from  their  slumbers,  to  see 
themselves  as  God  sees  them.  It  is  time  that  they 
should  take  the  bandage  from  their  eyes,  and  deaf- 
ness from  their  ears.  If  these  founders  and  found- 
resses of  religious  order  were  indeed  saints,  what 
were  the  men  who  persecuted  them  ?  Is  there  any 
justification,  human  or  divine,  for  the  sufferings 
that  were  inflicted  on  them  ?  It  is  useless  to  say 
that  what  they  suffered  made  them  saints.  Does 
that  justify  those  who  inflicted  the  sufferings  ?  As 


THE  MUM  OF  KENMARE. 

well  might  we  justify  those  who  persecuted  our 
Lord.  Because  the  results  of  evil  are  turned  by 
God  to  good  for  those  who  love  Him,  will  that 
justify  and  excuse  the  doing  of  evil  ?  Yet  in  all 
these  biographies,  it  is  usual,  or  perhaps  obliga- 
tory, to  make  excuses  for  the  ecclesiastical  perse- 
cutors, by  saying  that  they  were  good  men,  well 
intentioned,  and  meant  it  for  the  best. 

Now  this  argument  would  pass,  perhaps,  for 
fallible  people,  but  in  this  case,  be  it  noted  well, 
we  have  to  do  with  those  who  claim  in  an  especial 
manner  to  be  divinely  inspired  guides.  I  am  not 
saying  that  individual  priests  or  bishops  claim  a 
personal  infallibility  for  all  their  acts,  but  this 
claim  of  infallibility  has  got  to  be  so  curiously 
elastic  of  late  years,  that  it  can  be  stretched  or 
contracted  at  pleasure. 

The  question  narrows  down  to  one  plain  point. 
If  these  founders  and  foundresses  were  saints  now 
that  they  are  dead,  they  were  equally  saints  while 
they  were  living,  and  how  is  it  that  these  people 
did  not  find  it  out  ?  It  will  be  said,  no  one  could 
be  sure  of  their  perseverance  until  they  were  dead  ; 
therefore,  they  should  not  be  treated  as  saints 
while  they  were  living.  This  is  quite  true,  and 
very  much  to  the  purpose,  but  let  it  be  observed 
carefully  that  the  question  is  not  whether  their 
persecutors  should  not  have  honored  them  as 


LIVES  OF   THE  SAINTS. 


409 


saints  instead  of  persecuting  them  as  if  they 
were  doers  of  evil ;  the  question  is  this  :  if  they 
were  saints,  there  must  at  all  times  have  been 
ordinary  evidence  of  holiness  of  life  ;  and  even  if 
they  were  not  extraordinary  saints,  the  work 
which  they  were  doing,  or  trying  to  do,  was  most 
certainly  one  which  any  good  Christian  should 
have  applauded  heartily  and  encouraged. 

It  is  useless  to  say  more.  Those  who  are  deter- 
mined to  sin,  will  find  excuse  for  sinning.  Men 
who  are  determined  to  uphold  and  support  evil 
must  have  some  excuse  to  do  so.  I  do  not  write 
for  such  persons  ;  it  would  be  mere  waste  of  time. 
I  write  for  those  who  are  capable  of  reasoning, 
and  who  love  righteousness  enough  to  be  willing 
to  listen  to  truth. 

The  lives  of  St.  Alphonsus  Liguori,  the  great 
doctor  of  the  church  ;  of  St.  Paul  of  the  Cross, 
the  great  preacher  of  the  church ;  of  the  blessed 
De  la  Salle,  the  great  teacher  of  the  church,  are 
one  long  record  of  unmanly  and  scandalous  perse- 
cutions from  priests  and  bishops,  and  of  the  most 
severe  trials  from  members  of  the  very  orders 
which  they  themselves  founded. 

To-day,  the  Archbishop  of  New  York  and  the 
Roman  Catholic  press  are  full  of  praises  of  the 
Venerable  De  la  Salle,  and  tell  in  glowing  pane- 
gyrics of  the  good  his  order  has  done,  and  all 


honor  his  memory.  How  different  was  his  life. 
He  was  hunted  from  place  to  place.  He  was  sus- 
pected of  heresy.  He  was,  according  to  some 
authorities,  under  ecclesiastical  censure  when  he 
died.  He  was  opposed  by  many  of  his  own  spirit- 
ual children.  He  was  obliged  to  leave  them  alto- 
gether at  one  time,  being  no  longer  able,  brave  as 
he  was,  to  bear  the  constant  crushing  of  his  hopes 
and  aspirations,  or  the  trials  from  his  own  brethren. 
In  all  probability,  if  he  lived  to-day  in  New  York, 
he  would  suffer  precisely  the  same  treatment  from 
its  archbishop  and  his  council.  He  would  be  told 
that  his  work  was  useless  and  unnecessary ;  and 
the  precious  time  which  he  might  have  given  to 
the  service  of  God  and  humanity,  would  be  spent 
in  sufferings  which  would  have  incapacitated  him 
for  work. 

Take  the  lives  of  female  saints,  and  you  will  find 
the  same  miserable  and  discreditable  record.  The 
Roman  Catholic  bishops  of  to-day,  and  the  Roman 
Catholic  press,  are  loud  and  noisy  in  their  denun- 
ciations of  the  crime  of  those  children  of  the 
church  in  France,  Italy,  and  Germany,  who  have 
turned  from  it,  and  who  are  now  driving  out  reli- 
gious orders ;  but  they  are  simply  doing  what 
Roman  Catholic  bishops  have  done  before  them. 
Why  should  Roman  Catholic  bishops  complain  if 
convents  are  broken  up,  sisters  expelled,  and  reli- 


JUSTIFYING  EVIL. 

gious  forbidden  to  make  new  foundations,  when 
they  do  precisely  the  same  thing  themselves,  and 
have  done  it  for  centuries  ? 

I  know  how  difficult  it  will  be  for  Roman  Cath- 
olics to  realize  this  fact,  but  it  is  a  fact  all  the 
same.  Just  as  difficult  as  it  is  for  them  to  believe 
that  there  have  been  wicked  popes,  yes,  and  popes 
whose  lives  were  so  awful,  so  vile,  that  even  the 
very  worst  which  Roman  Catholic  historians  can 
say  of  Henry  VIII.  is  as  purity  itself  compared 
with  their  record. 

The  disgrace  of  certain  members  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  church  is  this  :  not  that  it  has  had  bad 
popes  and  worldly  bishops  ;  not  that  it  has  perse- 
cuted the  saints,  for  all  human  institutions  are  fal- 
lible,—  but  that  all  this  evil  is  condoned,  glossed 
over,  and  justified.  We  know  what  Holy  Scrip- 
ture says. 

It  is  a  poor  religion  indeed,  which  is  afraid  that 
its  followers  should  know  its  history.  It  is  a  poor 
religion  indeed,  which  fears  that  men  should  seek 
to  know,  or  reason  for  themselves. 

If  I  could  place  the  life  of  Mother  Julia,  the 
foundress  of  the  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame,  in  the 
hands  of  every  reader  of  this  book,  I  would  gladly 
do  so,  for  that  life  proves  the  truth  of  every  word 
I  have  written.  Her  work  now  is  promoted  and 
honored,  but  in  her  lifetime  it  was  hindered,  and 


412  THE  HUN  OF  KEVMAR& 

she  herself  was  the  object  of  incessant  ecclesiasti- 
cal persecution. 

I  have  said  these  things  because  they  are  true, 
and  the  world  is  never  the  better  for  hiding  truth. 
I  have  said  them,  also,  because  I  am  now  compelled 
to  give  a  history  of  the  persecution  and  opposition 
which  I  have  experienced  myself  in  my  efforts  to 
work  for  God's  poor. 

The  history  of  my  expulsion  from  ,Knock  you 
are  acquainted  with.  It  is  enough  to  make  an 
angel  weep  to  think  of  all  the  poor  have  lost. 
The  English  are  denounced  for  their  cruelty  to 
Ireland,  for  their  indifference,  for  their  suppres- 
sion of  Irish  trade  and  manufactures;  but  what 
is  to  be  said  of  priests  and  bishops  who  do 
the  very  same  thing.  Even  now  the  work 
which  I  had  begun,  and  would  have  carried  out 
to  such  a  glorious  extent  for  the  poor  of  Ire- 
land, is  done  in  the  north  of  Ireland  by  a 
Protestant  lady  for  Protestant  girls.  Of  course, 
no  bishop  or  priest  can  hinder  her  work,  and  so 
it  prospers. 

In  England  I  met  with  the  same  opposition,  not 
indeed  from  one  bishop,  for  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop 
of  Nottingham  is  one  of  the  few  bishops  who 
care  for  the  poor.  But  other  bishops  would  not 
allow  our  order  in  their  diocese,  although  they  are 
crying  out  day  after  day  how  their  Roman  Catholic 


LOSSES  OF   THE  R.  C.  CHURCH. 


413 


children  are  being  proselytized  by  Protestants.* 
No  wonder,  when  they  will  not  allow  Roman 
Catholics  to  take  care  of  them.  I  would  have 
carried  out  the  work  of  preparing  these  poor 
children  for  domestic  service,  caring  for  them  on 
the  voyage  to  America ;  I  would  have  had  homes 
for  them  here,  to  which  they  could  have  come  at 
any  moment,  if  in  trouble  or  sickness.  That  was 
the  crime  I  wished  to  commit.  Well,  these  bishops 
have  succeeded  in  preventing  this,  and  I  trust  they 
may  be  happier  for  it. 

It  sounds  so  well  for  a  bishop  to  write  for  the 
press,  and  to  publish  statements,  and  to  say  how 
dreadful  it  is  that  so  many  thousands  of  poor  chil- 
dren have  been  lost  to  the  church  and  consigned 
to  eternal  damnation,  and  it  looks  so  zealous  and 
devoted  to  the  church  to  bewail  all  this  in  public ; 
but  to  do  something  practical  in  private,  to  take 
up  a  plain,  common-sense  plan  for  their  protection 

*  The  Roman  Catholic  Bishop  of  Salford  (Manchester,  Eng- 
land) estimates  the  loss  to  the  Catholic  faith  at  thousands  yearly. 
He  says  in  the  Tablet,  the  London  organ  of  the  English  Roman 
Catholics :  "  In  Manchester  and  Salford,  no  less  than  seven  and 
thirty  institutions  are  at  work  'converting,'  not  Catholic  men  and 
women,  but  the  helpless  children  of  the  poor.  In  a  Catholic  pop- 
ulation estimated  at  100,000,  there  are  5,420  children,  mostly  very 
young  children,  'in  extreme  danger  of  loss  of  faith,  or  practically 
lost  to  the  faith ';  2,341 'in  great  danger';  and  1,912 'in  danger' ;" 
so  that  there  are  some  »o,ooo  children  needing,  as  the  Bishop  of 
Salford  points  out,  "different  degrees  of  special  care,  if  we  are 
to  save  them  to  the  church  and  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 


414 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


and  welfare,  that  is  not  to  be  thought  of,  especially 
if  the  idea  has  not  emanated  from  the  bishop 
himself. 

There  is  a  Latin  proverb,  which  I  do  not  give  in 
the  original,  because  some  of  my  readers  might 
not  understand  it,  but  it  means,  that  whom  the 
gods  wish  to  destroy  they  first  make  demented 
In  other  words,  if  people  do  not  wish  to  do  right, 
God  allows  them  to  be  blinded,  so  that  they  may 
think  they  are  serving  God  when  they  are  really 
helping  the  devil. 

I  have  one  difficulty  in  .  making  this  unhappy 
record  of  failure,  and  it  is  this :  the  few  and 
powerful  ecclesiastics  who  have  not  only  kept  me 
out  of  their  own  dioceses,  but  have  also  by  their 
influence  hindered  my  work  in  other  places,  are  in 
the  habit  of  excusing  themselves  by  blaming  me 
for  being  too  zealous.  Everything  I  did  was  sure 
to  be  put  down  to  some  bad  motive.  Would  not 
a  true  spirit  of  charity  act  very  differently  ?  Sup- 
posing that  I  was  too  zealous,  too  anxious  to  work 
for  these  poor  girls,  can  they  deny  that  the  work 
was  a  good  one,  and  that  it  has  had  the  approval  of 
the  Pope  ?  If  indeed  it  can  ever  be  over-zealous 
to  have  been  anxious  to  carry  out  plans  approved 
by  the  Pope,  then  I  plead  guilty  to  the  charge, 
and  in  addition,  which  will  surely  gratify  these 
men,  I  will  say  that  I  will  never  again  be  guilty  of 


CHURCH  BUILDING  A   RESOURCE. 


415 


this  zeal ;  but  the  following  pages  will  give  proof 
that  I  have  never  asked  to  be  allowed  to  do  this 
work  for  girls  in  any  diocese  into  which  I  was  not 
first  invited  by  a  priest.  If  I  am  wrong,  a  priest 
was  wrong,  and  one  of  my  difficulties  is  this :  if  I 
give  the  names  and  letters  of  the  priests  who  have 
asked  me,  they  will  assuredly  be  made  to  surfer 
for  their  zeal  as  I  have  been.  Indeed  I  know,  so 
severe  and  crushing  is  the  tyranny  (there  is  no 
other  word  for  it)  of  some  Roman  Catholic  bishops 
in  America,  that  the  very  fact  of  a  priest  asking 
me  to  found  a  home  for  girls  is  quite  sufficient  to 
bring  severe  discipline  on  him  from  his  bishop. 
And  I  ask,  is  it  any  wonder  that  the  Roman 
Catholic  church  has  so  often  failed  to  keep  its 
hold  on  the  mass  of  the  people  where  it  has 
had  unlimited  power,  since  such  is  too  often  its 
mode  of  governing  ? 

The  priest  who  finds  his  zeal  constantly  crushed 
and  embarrassed,  and  who  finds  himself  treated  as 
a  mere  machine,  soon  lapses  into  utter  indiffer- 
ence, and  takes  to  church  building  as  a  last 
resource  from  ennui.  That  is  the  only  occupation 
that  is  sure  to  meet  with  ecclesiastical  approba- 
tion. My  first  experience  was  in  the  diocese  of 
New  York.  A  priest  there,  whose  name  I  shall 
not  give,  for  the  reasons  above  stated,  was  very 
much  interested  in  my  work  for  girls.  He  told  me 


416  THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

that  he  had  long  felt  that  such  an  institution  as 
ours  was  needed ;  that,  in  fact,  every  parish  in 
New  York  should  have  its  girls'  home,  as  well  as 
a  place  where  young  men  could  meet  and  enjoy 
each  other's  society.  Such  an  institution  properly 
managed  would  soon  be  self-supporting,  as  the 
class  of  girls  whom  this  would  help,  would  not 
need,  except  in  cases  of  sickness,  and,  in  fact, 
would  not  accept  charity. 

Several  attempts  have  been  made  to  carry  out 
this  work  for  girls  since  I  suggested  it,  but  they 
have  not  been  very  successful,  principally  from  the 
want  of  knowledge  on  the  part  of  their  promoters 
as  to  what  the  girls  really  needed,  and  too  much 
ecclesiastical  interference.  It  might  naturally  be 
supposed  that  a  religious  order  of  sisters,  founded 
for  a  certain  work,  were  the  proper  ones  to  have 
charge  of  it,  but  as  I  was  the  person  in  question, 
everything  was  done  to  discourage  us  and  help  our 
imitators.  One  might  as  well  say  that  the  order 
of  the  Sacred  Heart  should  be  the  best  persons 
for  hospital  work,  as  to  say  that  sisters  quite  un- 
trained to  the  care  and  training  of  girls  would  be 
the  best  for  this  work.  Nor,  apparently,  had  the 
approbation  of  the  Holy  See  any  weight  with  the 
archbishop  and  his  council,  all  of  whom  were  my 
opponents. 

As  to   the  girls,   who  needed   such   help,  and 


OPPOSITION  TO    THE   ORDER. 

wished  us  to  have  the  charge  of  them,  they  were 
not  consulted  at  all  in  the  matter,  and  it  seemed 
as  if  their  wishes  were  not  worth  a  moment's 
thought. 

The  priest  soon  found  he  dare  not  move  in  this 
affair,  and  I  believe  he  was  threatened  with  eccle- 
siastical penalties  if  he  persevered.  And  so  a 
work  that  might  have  done  so  much  good  for  the 
comfort  of  the  working  girl,  for  the  glory  of  God, 
and  the  good  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church  was 
prevented.  Who  will  answer  at  the  last  day  for 
this  ?  Excuses  may  be  made  here,  but  they  will 
not  be  made  there,  because  none  will  dare  to  offer 
them.  If  the  excuse  was  that  Monseigneur 
Quinn  told  my  friend,  that  I  was  "  a  bad  religious, 
who  had  disobeyed  my  bishop,"  why  did  not  Arch- 
bishop Corrigan  see  for  himself  whether  such 
reports  were  true  or  false  ?  Why  did  he  not  see 
me  himself,  or  allow  Cardinal  McCloskey  to  see 
me  ?  The  cause  is  very  plain,  they  wished  to 
excuse  and  justify  themselves  on  the  plea  that  I 
was  "an  unworthy  sister."  If  they  had  allowed 
me  to  show  them  the  proofs  that  these  charges 
were  false,  they  could  not  have  continued  to  make 
them.  I  think  the  priest  who  wished  to  carry 
out  a  work  approved  by  the  Holy  Father  was  a 
better  son  of  the  church  than  an  archbishop  who 
would  have  none  of  it. 


41 8  TffE  NUN  OF  KEN  MARE. 

There  would  have  been  no  begging  or  collecting 
for  this  institution  either,  as  it  was  a  wealthy 
parish,  and  the  priest  told  me  he  could  easily  have 
obtained  all  the  funds  necessary.  But,  although 
the  girls  have  been  deprived  of  a  home,  I  do  not 
think  any  priest  in  New  York  is  any  the  richer. 
The  money  that  would  have  been  given  for  that 
purpose  would  not  be  given  for  any  other.  I  say 
this  because  I  know  that  the  fear  that  I  should 
get  money  for  an  institution  was  one  cause  of  this 
dislike  to  me.  It  seems  to  some  ecclesiastics  as 
though  every  cent  which  is  given  to  any  one  else 
is  so  much  taken  from  them.  And  this  is  Chris- 
tian charity ! 

Several  fathers  belonging  to  a  religious  order 
spoke  to  me,  at  a  later  period,  of  having  a  home,  and 
were  anxious  for  it,  believing  that  I  had  a  special 
gift  for  this  kind  of  work.  But  here  again,  ecclesi- 
astical opposition  crushed  down  another  effort, 
which  would  not  have  failed  to  do  great  good. 

After  we  had  been  established  in  Jersey  City, 
through  the  kindness  of  Bishop  Wigger,  there  was 
certainly  no  excuse  for  refusing  us  permission  to 
found  a  convent  in  any  diocese  in  America.  If 
my  credentials  from  Rome  were  doubted,  and  how 
absurd  such  doubt  was,  it  was  quite  certain  Bishop 
Wigger  was  far  too  prudent  to  accept  the  services 
of  a  sister  who  had  broken  her  vows.  I  went  to 


THE  INSTITUTION  NEEDED. 


419 


Philadelphia,  and  other  places  in  the  South,  with 
the  written  permission  and  blessing  of  Bishop 
Wigger.  He  was  anxious  that  I  should  establish 
a  Catholic  home  for  the  blind,  and  I  had  and  have 
a  number  of  letters  from  blind  girls,  writing  from 
all  parts  of  America,  imploring  me  to  undertake 
this  work.  So  many  letters  came  from  those  of 
whom  I  had  never  heard  previously  that  it  seemed 
more  than  a  coincidence.  Many  of  these  girls, 
after  having  been  trained  in  public  institutions, 
find  themselves  very  lonely.  How  ardently  de- 
sired such  an  institution  was  by  poor  Catholic 
girls  will  be  seen  by  the  following  extract  from  one 
of  many  letters  received  by  me.  Bishop  Wigger 
says,  in  his  letter  authorizing  me  to  collect  for  the 
blind  institution,  "  To  his  sorrow  there  is  no  such 
institution."  What  matter  ?  ecclesiastical  author- 
ity has  vindicated  itself ;  an  archbishop  can  put 
down  a  hapless  person  who  is  so  foolish  as  to  sor- 
row with  the  sorrows  of  the  poor  and  afflicted,  and 
prevent  the  establishment  of  a  work  which  might 
have  gone  on  happily  and  prosperously  and  made 
no  diocese  the  poorer. 

But  it  will  be  said,  perhaps,  that  I  failed  in  pre- 
vious undertakings,  and  that  bishops  could  not 
trust  me  or  my  sisters  to  carry  out  such  a  work. 
Did  I  fail  in  Kenmare  ?  or  did  I  fail  in  Knock  ?  It 
is  certainly  not  failure  on  your  part  when  a  work 


THE  NUN  OF 


420 

that  is  succeeding  beyond  your  expectations  is 
suddenly  stopped  by  a  power  which  has  authority 
both  to  forbid  you  to  try,  and  to  crush  you  when 
you  have  succeeded.  The  note  given  below  will 
show  how  our  institutions  have  succeeded  in  Eng- 
land.* 

The  following  letter,  dated  from  Lewiston,  Me., 
is  from  a  blind  girl.  It  is  one  of  the  many  letters 
I  received  from  blind  girls. 

"  I  hear  that  you  are  going  to  establish  an  insti- 
tution for  the  training  of  the  blind.  I  am  in  the 
deepest  sympathy  with  you,  and  I  think  it  is  one 
of  the  greatest  undertakings  that  a  person  could 
do,  and  I  pray  that  God  will  reward  you  and  pros- 
per you  in  it.  The  blind  enjoy  living  together 
much  better  than  with  people  who  have  their 
sight.  My  aunt  is  blind,  and  ever  since  she  heard 
of  your  institution,  she  is  longing  to  have  it  com- 
pleted. Besides,  she  says,  they  can  listen  to  reli- 
gious instruction  a  great  deal  more,  which  will 

*  "  ST.  BARNABUS  CATHEDRAL,  NOTTINGHAM, 

"May  17,  1  836 

"Mv  DEAR  REV.  MOTHER-GENERAL,  —  I  have  just  heard 
with  great  sorrow  that  you  are  so  seriously  ill,  and  can  only  hope 
that  by  this  time  your  health  may  have  improved.  May  God  grant 
it,  and  spare  you  long  to  carry  on  the  great  work  you  have  begun. 
Your  convents  in  this  diocese  are  svell  and  securely  founded,  but 
they  could  ill  afford  to  lose  you.  I  write  to  assure  you  of  my 
sympathy  and  prayers,  and,  entreating  God  to  bless  you,  remain 
"  Most  truly  yours, 

"  EDWARD,  Bishop  of  Nottingham" 


THE  ENGLISH  ROMAN  CATHOLICS. 


42 1 


help  to  cheer  them  so  much.  My  aunt  has  been 
trained  in  an  institution  for  the  blind  for  five 
years  when  she  was  a  little  girl,  and  she  has 
learned  a  great  deal." 

This  letter  goes  on  then  to  speak  of  other  blind 
girls,  who  were  anxious  to  come  to  our  home,  the 
home,  that  alas,  has  never  been  built  for  them. 

It  will  be  said,  also,  why  did  we  want  so  many 
foundations  and  new  works  ?  and  the  question  is  a 
fair  one.  No  reason  or  reply  will  satisfy  men, 
who,  like  the  inquisitors  of  old,  first  accused  a  man 
because  they  had  a  personal  hatred  of  him,  and 
then  found  out,  or  made  out  reasons  for  burning 
him  alive.  I  have  at  last  realized  how  hopeless  it 
is  to  offer  explanations  to  such  men,  but  there  are 
others  who  have  known  me  by  my  writings,  and 
they  have  a  right  to  every  explanation.  There  is 
also  the  great  American  public,  to  whose  verdict 
I  appeal  as  a  defenceless  woman.  For  these  I 
speak,  and  for  these  I  make  these  explanations. 
There  are,  also,  a  great  number  of  charitable  souls 
who  have  confided  their  money  to  my  care,  and  it 
is  a  duty  that  I  should  tell  them  the  hindrances  I 
have  had  in  carrying  out  the  work  for  which  they 
so  generously  subscribed. 

Every  one  knows  how  poor  English  Roman 
Catholics  are.  The  missions,  as  they  are  called  in 
England,  are  kept  up  with  the  greatest  difficulty. 


422 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


Some  years  since,  Rome  had  high  hopes  of  con- 
verting the  whole  of  England.  When  Manning 
came  ;  when  Newman  came  ;  when  Lockhart  came  ; 
and  when  so  many  others  with  long  resounding  titles 
came,  all  was  supposed  to  be  accomplished  for  the 
conversion  of  England.  The  Roman  Catholic 
church  was  intoxicated  with  the  wine  of  success. 
Roman  Catholics  have  not  only  had  liberty  in 
England,  but  they  have  had  license.  Nothing- 
has  been  refused  to  them.  It  was  a  triumphal 
march  all  along  the  line.  Cardinals  were  courted. 
Bishops  were  flattered.  Conversions  became  fash- 
ionable. The  walks  of  art  and  society  were  all 
wide  open  to  them.  The  chivalrous  nature  of  the 
best  people  in  England  spent  itself  in  doing 
honors  to  those  who  they  felt  had  been  wronged 
for  so  many  centuries. 

But  what  has  been  the  result  ?  Notwithstand- 
ing all  the  temporal  advantages,  and  all  the  spirit- 
ual advantages,  and  all  the  literary  and  social 
advantages,  it  is  a  certain  fact  that  conversions, 
after  the  first  rush  was  over,  suddenly  ceased,  and 
are  now  few  and  far  between.  The  mass  of  the 
people  has  never  been  reached  by  this  movement. 
All  the  prayers  that  were  offered  for  the  conver- 
sion of  England,  and  they  were  fervent  and  mul- 
tiplied, have  been  unanswered,  and  some  of  the 
best  of  those  who  had  become  converts  have 


POOR  NEGLECTED. 


423 


returned  to  the  church  of  their  baptism,  or  have 
lapsed  into  infidelity  or  indifference.  Truly  a 
sorrowful  outcome  of  a  noble  beginning,  and  if 
Roman  Catholics  were  even  awake  to  their  dan- 
ger, and  asked  themselves  anxiously  why  things 
were  so,  it  would  be  less  sad  ;  but  the  chorus  of 
self-praise  and  congratulation  over  the  few  con- 
verts of  the  past  prevents  them  from  realizing  the 
poverty  of  the  present. 

Men  whose  pride  is  the  rich  or  noble  convert, 
blind  themselves  to  the  loss  of  thousands  of  poor 
Catholic  people  and  Catholic  children,  and  scarcely 
seem  to  have  the  grace  to  realize  that  the  soul  of 
the  poorest  child  in  the  world  is  as  valuable  and 
precious  to  God,  as  the  soul  of  the  most  gifted 
being  upon  earth.  Hence  it  is,  I  fear,  that  the 
blind,  because  they  are  poor  are  left  without  con- 
sideration. If  they  were  wealthy,  religious  orders 
would  be  founded  for  their  instruction,  and  homes 
would  be  prepared  for  their  comfort.  As  far  as 
our  order  was  concerned,  we  could  certainly  have 
undertaken  this  work — as  in  the  place  where  we 
had  Summer  Homes  for  girls,  we  could  always 
have  had  additional  buildings  for  blind  girls  which 
would  have  entailed  very  little  additional  expense. 

When  I  approached  Archbishop  Ryan  of  Phila- 
delphia on  the  subject,  and  presented  to  him  the 
letter  from  my  bishop,  he  seemed  to  think  that  the 


424 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


blind  of  his  diocese  were  quite  as  well  off  in  Pro- 
testant institutions  as  in  Roman  Catholic,  and  I 
do  not  dispute  his  view.  But  surely  as  a  Roman 
Catholic  it  was  natural  I  should  have  wished  for  a 
Roman  Catholic  home  for  them. 

A  priest  high  in  office  in  Philadelphia  was  asked 
to  meet  me  at  a  friend's  house,  and  this  gentleman 
like  many  others  could  not  understand  why  good 
works  should  be  opposed  because  I  was  the  pro- 
moter of  them. 

This  priest,  who  has  been  named  for  the  epis- 
copacy, and  will  probably  wear  the  mitre,  was  in 
the  room  smoking  when  I  entered.  He  did  not 
take  the  slightest  notice  of  me,  to  the  mortifica- 
tion of  my  friends.  After  a  few  moments  he 
turned  to  me,  and,  without  removing  the  cigar 
from  his  lips,  he  said,  — 

"  I  hope,  sister,  that  you  did  not  think  I  called  to 
see  you."  The  insolence  of  his  tone  and  manner 
could  not  have  been  equalled.  I  was  so  utterly 
amazed,  I  had  no  answer  ready.  After  a  few  mo- 
ments, I  left  the  room  quietly.  I  should  have  left 
at  once,  but  I  wished  to  spare  the  feelings  of  my 
friends,  who  had  acted  from  the  kindest  motives  ; 
but  although  they  were  wealthy  and  very  influen- 
tial they  could  not  show  any  resentment  where  a 
priest  was  in  question  and  were  obliged  to  keep 
silence,  whatever  they  felt 


"  OVER-ZEALOUS." 


425 


Now  it  may  be  said,  I  know  it  will  be  said,  as  an 
excuse  for  the  discreditable  conduct  of  this  mon- 
seigneur,  that  I  had  not  any  right  to  be  in  Phila- 
delphia ;  that  I  was  pressing  myself  on  those  who 
did  not  want  me,  and  so  on.  To  this  I  reply,  — and 
beg  the  reply  will  be  noted,  as  I  shall  not  again 
justify  myself,  although  I  have  to  record  other 
cases  of  ecclesiastical  discourtesy,  —  even  if  I  had 
acted  without  regular  ecclesiastical  permission, 
respect  for  himself  should  have  made  him  hesitate 
before  he  offered  an  insult  to  a  lady,  even  if  she 
was  a  sister.  And  if  I  was  over-zealous,  certainly 
there  are  not  many  ladies  over-zealous  to  do  good 
to  the  poor.  But  I  had  come  with  letters  from  my 
bishop,  and  this  fact,  at  least,  should  have  pro- 
tected me  from  insult.* 

*  Bishop  Wigger's  letter  will  be  found  in  full  in  the  appendix. 
He  concludes  it  by  saying,  —  "I  warmly  recommend  you  to  the 
kindness  of  the  Prelates  whom  you  may  call  on,  and  sincerely 
hope  you  will  succeed  in  gaining  the  object  of  your  mission." 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

WHO   IS  ACCOUNTABLE? 

A  Sorrowful  Record  —  Dependence  of  the.  Roman  Catholic  Church  upon 
the  Liquor  Interest  —  Received  Kindly  by  Cardinal  Gibbons  at  First 
—  Father  Didier's  Home  for  Girls — Invited  to  take  the  Manage- 
ment of  it  —  Plan  Defeated  by  the  Interference  of  Some  Priest  — 
Offered  a  Summer  Home  Near  Baltimore — The  Priest  Very  Anx- 
ious that  I  should  Accept  It.  —  Cardinal  Gibbons  Forbids  it  Under 
the  Influence  of  Other  Ecclesiastics  —  Invited  to  Visit  Mother 

D 's   Convent   for  my  Health  —  Archbishop   Corrigan   Sends   a 

Lady  to  Her  to  Express  His  Strong  Feeling  Against  Me,  and  to 
Desire  Me  to  Leave  —  Asked  to  Found  a  Home  in  Cleveland  0. — 
Forbidden  by  the  Archbishop  —  Asked  to  make  Foundations  in 
Tacoma  W.  T.  —  Suddenly  Forbidden,  after  all  Arrangements  had 
been  Made  —  Offered  a  Home  for  Girls  in  St.  Pauls,  Minn.  —  Urgent 
Need  for  this  Work  there,  but  Father  Shanly  Forbids  it,  and  makes 
a  Gross  Attack  on  Me  in  the  Public  Press  —  Without  any  Expression 
of  Disapprobation  from  his  Bishop. 

PERHAPS  there  have  been  few  more  sorrowful 
records  than  those  which  are  related  in  these 
chapters.  Let  God  judge.  For  myself  there 
seems  to  be  but  one  explanation  of  them,  personal 
feeling  against  myself,  based  on  wilful  credit  given 
to  reports  which,  I  fear,  these  ecclesiastics  well 
knew  to  be  false,  and  to  this  I  must  add  there  was 
a  sad  indifference  to  the  cause  of  the  poor,  and  to 
the  needs  of  the  poor.  Any  honest-hearted  lover 
of  the  poor  would  surely  have  been  interested,  or 
at  least  would  not  have  condemned  a  person, 

426 


VISIT  TO  BALTIMORE. 


427 


whose  only  desire  was  to  help  them.  No  doubt 
if  the  service  of  the  Sisters  of  Peace  had  been  ac- 
cepted in  New  York  for  immigrant  girls,  a  house 
would  at  once  have  been  founded  in  Queenstovvn, 
which  would  have  proved  invaluable,  not  only  to 
girls,  but  to  all  others  wishing  to  emigrate,  as 
there  they  could  have  obtained  true  and  reliable 
information  and  disinterested  advice  as  to  their 
future  destiny. 

But  this  would  not  have  suited  certain  ecclesias- 
tical authority  or  the  politicians  by  whom  they 
boss,  or  by  whom  they  are  bossed.  When  it 
pleases  a  bishop  to  order  wholesale  emigration  to 
the  Northern  states,  so  utterly  unsuited  to  Irish 
people,  there  they  must  go.  It  matters  not  how 
many  fail,  so  that  his  desires  are  accomplished.  If 
it  suits  another  ecclesiastic  that  the  tide  of  emi- 
gration should  be  directed  to  the  South,  and  suits 
his  relatives  in  this  way  to  build  up  their  railroad 
lines  and  become  millionaires,  it  is  done. 

I  went  to  Baltimore  in  March,  1886,  by  the  de- 
sire of  my  bishop.  I  had  heard  so  much,  as  who 
has  not,  of  His  Eminence  Cardinal  Gibbons,  of 
his  courtesy,  and  of  his  love  of  justice.  I  was  at 
this  time  very  far  from  well.  The  hemorrhages 
had  begun,  which  were  so  nearly  fatal  to  me,  and 
there  is  no  doubt  but  they  were  brought  on  by  dis- 
tress of  mind  and  anxiety. 


428  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

If  I  had  proposed  in  all  these  places,  either 
as  a  secular  Roman  Catholic,  or  as  a  Protestant, 
to  establish  liquor  saloons  or  houses  of  doubtful 
character,  no  bishop  would  have  interfered  to 
prevent  my  doing  so.  The  liquor  saloon,  at  least, 
is  always  useful  to  the  Roman  Catholic  church, 
and  must  not  be  too  much  discouraged,  though 
obviously  it  is  necessary  to  condemn  it  in  theory. 
But  what  matters  this,  when  all  the  mandates  of  a 
Council  are  pointed  at  as  an  evidence  of  zeal,  and 
at  the  same  time  left  to  lie  as  a  dead  letter. 

It  must  be  admitted,  however,  tfyat  no  other  re- 
ligious body  is  so  dependent  upon  the  liquor  saloon 
interest  as  the  Roman  Catholic  church.  In  fact, 
it  is  the  only  religious  body  that  looks  to  this 
interest  for  its  support ;  and  it  is  but  justice  to  say 
that  if  the  money  obtained  from  this  source, 
directly  as  well  as  indirectly,  were  withdrawn, 
some  institutions  would  have  a  poor  look-out.  The 
liquor  saloon-keeper  who  bosses  the  wards,  knows 
how  to  obtain  government  money  and  subsidies 
for  orphan  and  other  institutions,  and  with  the 
most  free  and  generous  hand  these  men  contribute 
to  every  Roman  Catholic  charity. 

It  is  none  the  less  true,  however,  that  it  is  a 
crying  shame  for  the  Roman  Catholic  church  to 
oblige  sisters  to  depend  upon  collections  in  such 
places  for  their  support,  and  this  in  a  church 


RECEIVED  BY  CARDINAL   GIBBONS. 


429 


which  can  obtain  millions  of  money  for  any 
purpose,  and  could  save  the  sisters  all  this  degra- 
dation, and  waste  of  time  and  energy  which  should 
be  given  to  the  service  of  the  poor. 

I  sent  the  sister,  who  travelled  with  me,  to 
Cardinal  Gibbons  to  make  an  appointment,  as  I 
was  unable  to  go  out,  at  his  usual  early  hour  in 
the  day  for  receiving.  He  received  her  kindly, 
and  received  me,  also,  with  his  usual  urbane 
manner.  For  a  moment  indeed  I  could  have 
thought  myself  in  Rome,  where  I  received  such 
marked  courtesy  from  every  official. 

I  spoke  to  him  of  the  reports  which  had  been 
deliberately  circulated  about  me  in  New  York, 
and  offered  to  show  his  eminence  the  letters  I 
had  with  me,  which  proved  both  their  origin  and 
the  persistence  with  which  they  had  been  kept  up  ; 
but  he  assured  me  that  he  had  never  believed 
them,  the  fact  of  the  Holy  Father  having  received 
me  in  Rome  with  such  marked  consideration,  was 
sufficient.  At  last,  I  thought,  all  my  troubles  were 
over ;  here  was  one  honorable  ecclesiastic  who 
would  do  me  justice,  —  for  justice  was  all  I  asked. 
I  had  again  and  again  been  reproached  with  the 
fact,  a  fact  which  I  could  not  deny,  that  Arch- 
bishop Corrigan  had  refused  even  to  see  me,  and 
those  who  knew  the  work  I  wanted  to  do  could 
not  understand  how  it  was  I  had  been  refused 


430  THE  NUN  OF   KENMARE. 

permission  to  carry  it  on  in  his  diocese.  Again 
and  again  priests  had  said  to  me,  "So  long  as 
you  are  not  recognized  in  New  York,  the  Pope's 
approbation  is  of  no  use  to  you.  The  Pope  is  in 
Rome,  and  clearly,  he  has  done  his  part.  He 
cannot  be  worried  with  incessant  applications  and 
complaints."  And  I  felt  it  so.  The  Holy  Father 
had  indeed  done  all  he  could  for  me.  Long  as  I 
had  been  in  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  I  had 
yet  to  learn  how  little  the  court  of  Rome  can  in- 
fluence any  cause  or  obtain  even  the  respect  due 
.to  its  decisions,  when  the  case  in  question  is  one 
of  personal  feeling  or  prejudice ;  and  how  easily 
the  decisions  of  Rome  can  be  altered  or  defeated, 
cotemporaneous  history  tells  us.  * 

*  The  case  of  Rosmini  is  clearly  in  point.  He  lived  and  died 
the  life  of  a  saint,  and  founded  a  distinguished  Religious  Order  of 
Charity,  but  his  enemies  even  since  his  death  have  proved  relent- 
less. His  writings,  all  of  a  religious  and  metaphysical  character, 
were  examined  in  Rome,  and  declared  free  from  all  error  some 
few  years  since.  His  enemies  were  enraged,  but  they  bided  their 
time.  Within  the  last  few  months  they  had  these  works  brought 
to  trial  again  and  condemned,  but  they  took  good  care  Rosmini's 
representative  and  the  head  of  the  order  which  he  founded,  should 
not  hear  one  word  of  this  proceeding  until  the  foregone  conclu- 
sion of  condemnation  was  announced.  This  he  has  stated  pub- 
licly. In  my  case  I  have  been  villified  and  calumniated  without  one 
word  of  notice  or  excuse,  and  retraction  has  always  been  refused 
even  when  I  have  shown  the  falseness  of  these  charges.  Surely 
if  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  can  only  be  supported  by  con- 
demning people  without  a  hearing,  and  condemning  saints  without 
allowing  their  spiritual  children  even  to  know  of  the  trial,  the 


FATHER  DIDIE&S  HOME. 


431 


A  priest  in  Baltimore,  the  Reverend  Father 
Didier,  had  already  founded  a  home  for  Working 
Girls.  It  was  an  attempt  in  the  right  direction 
certainly,  but  it  was  not  succeeding  very  well. 
Such  homes  require  especial  tact  in  their  man- 
agement. Because  a  girl  is  lonely  or  friendless, 
which  one  may  be  and  yet  not  need  any  pecuniary 
help,  it  is  no  reason  that  she  should  have  the  dis- 
cipline of  a  reformatory,  or  the  restraints  of  a 
prison.  The  home  should  be  a  home,  and  not  a 
place  of  restriction,  and  the  more  like  a  home  such 
places  are  the  better.  Priests  and  sisters  too 
often  wish  to  give  a  monastic  character  to  these 
homes.  They  may  obtain  a  few  inmates  who  are 
driven  there  by  stress  of  circumstances,  but  they 
are  not  happy  or  contented. 

Girls  who  need  such  homes  have  arrived  at  the 
age  of  reason,  and  it  is  simply  an  injustice  to  treat 
them  as  children.  In  saying  this,  I  do  not  wish  to 
have  it  supposed  that  I  would  encourage  undue 
license.  What  these  girls  have  a  right  to  have  and 
to  ask,  is  perfect  liberty.  If  a  girl  requires  more 
than  this,  she  is  not  fit  for  such  an  institution.  If 

sooner  it  ceases  to  be  Roman  and  becomes  Catholic  the  better. 
Imagine  a  court  of  law  in  the  United  States,  or  any  states,  where  a 
prisoner  could  be  tried  and  condemned  in  his  absence,  and  with- 
out any  knowledge  of  the  intention  to  try  and  condemn  him. 
This  was  done  by  the  Inquisition  in  past  ages,  but  it  should  not 
be  continued  by  the  Inquisition  of  the  present  day. 


432 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMA&E. 


she  is  refused  perfect  liberty,  those  who  refuse  it 
are  not  fit  to  conduct  such  institutions. 

I  do  not  make  these  remarks  as  any  criticism  of 
Father  Didier's  home,  because  I  do  not  know 
enough  of  its  workings  to  give  an  opinion,  and 
however  I  have  been  misrepresented,  I  have  too 
much  respect  for  myself  to  follow  such  example  ; 
but  I  know  what  girls  say  and  how  they  feel  about 
such  establishments,  and  I  know  how  much  good 
is  prevented  even  if  evil  is  not  occasioned  by  over- 
zeal  or  unwise  action. 

Any  necessary  restraint  may  be  exercised 
without  its  being  made  a  burden.  These  dear, 
girls  find  restraint  and  trouble  enough  in  their 
weary  lives,  and  "  Homes "  should  bring  them 
peace,  rest,  and  freedom. 

Cardinal  Gibbons  did  not,  I  think,  disapprove  of 
my  ideas.  He  gave  me  a  note  to  Father  Didier, 
and  I  had  every  reason  to  hope  that  my  weary 
waiting  was  rewarded.  Father  Didier  entered 
warmly  into  the  plan,  and  he  invited  me  to  meet 
a  committee  of  ladies  who  organized  for  him. 
They  had  held  a  private  meeting  previously,  and 
asked  me  formally  to  take  charge  of  the  Home. 
Even  the  chimes  were  rung  as  a  compliment. 
Many  of  the  ladies,  and  especially  a  Mrs.  Keane, 
the  stepmother  of  the  President  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  University  at  Washington,  gave  me  the 


BISHOP  KEANE'S  OPPOSITION. 


433 


warmest  welcome,  and  they  all  expressed  pleasure 
at  meeting  the  Nun  of  Kenmare,  whom  they  had 
so  long  known  by  reputation  and  by  her  writings. 

I  must  admit  that  when  I  heard  Bishop  Keane's 
name,  my  heart  died  within  me.  I  knew  how 
bitterly  opposed  he  was  to  me,  as  his  letter  would 
show,  though  I  had  some  claim  on  his  gratitude, 
if  it  is  possible  for  a  Roman  Catholic  ecclesiastic 
to  be  grateful  for  anything.  I  had  given  a  home 
and  a  helping  hand  to  a  poor  lady  whom  he  had 
sent  out  on  the  world  after  she  had  been  for  many 
years  a  professed  sister  of  the  Convent  of  the 
Visitation  in  his  diocese. 

I  felt  sure  that  his  mother  would  write  to  him 
at  once,  telling  him,  no  doubt,  with  great  congrat- 
ulation, that  I  had  had  the  offer  of  this  Institu- 
tion, and  how  glad  the  ladies  were  to  receive  me. 
Whether  it  was  his  influence  against  me,  or  that 
of  another  bishop,  I  do  not  know  ;  but  as  I  have 
evidence  in  his  own  handwriting  how  opposed  he 
was  to  me,  it  is  not  uncharitable  to  think  that  he 
may  have  interfered  against  me. 

I  was  at  this  time  stopping  with  some  young 
ladies,  and  to  my  amazement,  one  of  them  came 

to  tell  me  that  a  priest  a  Dr.  F had  sent  for 

her,  and  spoken  to  her  very  angrily  for  allowing 
me  to  remain  in  her  house.  Sbe  had  sufficient 
spirit  to  answer  that  her  house  was  her  own,  and 


434 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE, 


that  she  had  a  right  to  receive  any  boarders  she 
pleased.  But  the  anger  of  an  influential  priest  is 
a  matter  that  cannot  be  treated  lightly ;  he  has 
too  many  ways  of  making  people  surfer,  if  they 
dare  to  disobey  him.  I  soon  knew  that  my  hopes 
were  finally  crushed  in  Baltimore.  I  received  a 
note  the  following  day  from  Father  Didier,  which 
I  have  now  before  me.  In  this  he  says  :  "  There 
has  arisen  an  opposition  to  our  plan  from  an  unex- 
pected source,"  and  he  advises  me  to  see  the 
vicar-general.  Alas  !  I  knew  too  well  the  utter 
uselessness  of  seeing  any  one  when  an  influential 

priest  like  Dr.  F had  determined  not  to  allow 

the  accomplishment  of  a  good  work. 

I  knew  already  by  this  time,  that  bishops  are  a 
close  corporation,  and  that  they  do  not  like  to 
acknowledge  any  person  or  work  which  is  disliked 
by  another  bishop.  The  justice  or  injustice  of 
this  course  does  not  matter. 

Cardinal  Gibbons  had  heard  things  against  me. 
He  did  not  believe  them,  —  that  he  also  admitted. 
But  what  did  that  matter  ?  After  all,  I  was  only 
a  woman  doing  a  work  for  women.  I  had  the 
approval  of  the  pope,  and  a  letter  from  my  own 
bishop  recommending  me  to  the  kindness  of  the 
clergy  wherever  I  went.  What  matter  ?  Per- 
haps even  then,  his  eminence  was  occupied  too 
much  with  the  affairs  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  to 


FATHER   COLGAA''S  PLESSIA'G. 


435 


be  concerned  with  the  women  of  Labor.  He 
could  secure  unbounded  applause  for  getting  the 
Holy  Father  to  see  that  if  they  were  crushed,  dis- 
affection would  follow,  and  he  could  show  how 
"  Peter's  Pence "  would  be  seriously  decreased. 
To  accomplish  this  end,  he  could  afford  to  meet 
with  disapproval  from  some  of  his  episcopal 
brethren,  but  to  help  a  poor  sister  would  not  be 
of  any  advantage  to  him  in  this  world  certainly. 

The  Vicar-General,  Father  Colgan,  who  has 
since  died,  came  to  see  me,  but  he  was  afraid  to 
interfere.  He  was  old.  All  he  could  do  was  to 
give  me  his  personal  courtesy  and  respect.  As  he 
was  going  down  the  stairs,  he  turned  to  me  and 
said  :  "  God  bless  you  for  all  you  have  done  for 
Ireland."  I  shall  not  soon  forget  his  words,  or  his 
manner  of  saying  them.  I  replied,  "  Perhaps 
some  time  God  will  reward  me,  but  certainly  no 
one  will  in  this  world." 

I  then  remembered  how  Bishop  Duggan  of 
Clonfert  had  knelt  down  before  a  number  of 
bishops  and  asked,  to  my  horror  and  dismay,  for 
my  blessing,  for  he  said  :  "  You  will  yet  be  can- 
onized for  all  you  have  done  for  Ireland."  And 
yet  if  I  had  only  held  my  tongue  when  I  saw 
injustice,  and  refrained  from  pleading  with  my 
pen,  when  I  saw  misery  and  starvation,  how  much 
happier  my  life  would  have  been. 


436 


THE  NUN  OP  KENMARE. 


To  add  to  the  keenness  of  this  trouble  in  Balti- 
more, I  may  say  I  called  at  the  Visitation  Convent, 
at  the  request  of  a  friend  who  accompanied  me, 
and  there  I  was  received  with  chilling  coldness. 
My  poor  friend,  whom  I  had  warned  beforehand 
of  what  I  expected,  was  filled  with  dismay,  and  I 
may  add  not  much  edified. 

A  lady  came  to  me  and  offered  me  some  acres 
of  land  as  a  free  gift,  and  a  farmhouse  near  Balti- 
more. So  that  I  certainly  should  have  had  a  sum- 
mer home  for  the  girls  there  as  well  as  the  one  in 
the  city,  and  I  need  not  say  that  the  farm  produce 
from  the  summer  home  would  have  been  a  great 
help.  I  had  met  a  young  lady  while  I  was  in  Wash- 
ington, who  was  exceedingly  anxious  to  join  our 
order.  This  lady,  who  belonged  to  a  very  high  and 
influential  family,  went  to  visit  friends  at  Baltimore, 
full  of  the  idea  of  coming  to  me  as  soon  as  possible, 
and  full  of  zeal  for  our  new  undertaking.  On 
going  there,  she  of  course  met  different  priests. 
In  consequence  of  this  she  wrote  to  me  :  "  Need  I 
tell  you  that  not  one  hour  has  passed  since  our 
last  interview  that  I  have  not  been  with  you  in 
spirit.  Since  that  time  I  have  learned  more  fully 
the  opposition  you  are  meeting,  and  it  is  to  me 
but  the  surer  proof  that  Christ  himself  has  called 
you  to  the  work,  that  he  has  given  you  this  bitter- 
est of  all  his  sorrows  to  share :  'Even  his  brethren 
did  not  believe  in  him.'  " 


LETTER  FROM  A   LADY.  437 

Though  this  lady  was  a  most  fervent  and  devoted 
Roman  Catholic,  she  appears  by  this  letter  to  me, 
to  have  attended  the  preaching  of  the  Rev.  Father 
Maturin  of  the  Episcopal  church  in  Philadelphia, 
and  she  speaks  of  the  great  consolation  which  she 
received  from  his  sermons.  She  says,  — 

"  How  happy  I  should  be,  if  only  I  might  have 
a  part  in  your  life ;  if  I  might  be  among  those 
whom  you  can  one  day  present  as  an  offering  to 
our  heavenly  Father.  I  feel  so  strongly  called  to 
your  Order,  I  know  I  would  be  brave  and  faithful, 
if  I  might  only  fight  at  your  side." 

In  another  letter  she  says,  — 

"I  have  heard  something  this  evening,  which  has 

induced  me  to  write  to  you  at  once.     In  E I 

met  the  priest  who  has  charge  of  it.  I  happened 
in  the  course  of  conversation  to  speak  of  you,  and 
what  was  my  surprise  when  the  priest  told  me 
that  you  had  been  offered  a  country  home,  only  a 
few  miles  from  here.  The  father  said,  '  he 
thought  you  would  make  a  great  mistake  not  to 
take  it,  and  that  he  was  sure  it  would  be  a  suc- 
cess ' ;  that  there  was  no  institution  of  the  kind 
in  or  near  Baltimore,  and  even  if  you  had  not  the 
means  to  support  it,  the  means  could  be  found, 
because  girls  who  were  employed  in  shops  would 
be  glad  to  board  in  the  country.  The  priest 
seemed  as  enthusiastic  as  I  was,  and  said  that  as 


438 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


I  knew  this  country  so  well,  I  really  ought  to 
write  and  tell  you  about  it.  I  know,  dear  mother, 
that  if  you  conclude  to  take  the  place,  the  greatest 
interest  will  be  taken  in  your  work." 

The  extracts  from  this  letter  are  only  a  specimen 
of  hundreds  which  I  have  received  ;  both  in  regard 
to  priests  who  are  anxious  for  us  to  have  founda- 
tions in  their  parishes,  and  from  ladies  who  are 
anxious  to  help.  Alas  !  it  was  not  I  who  made  the 
"  great  mistake,"  if  mistake  there  was ;  it  must  be 
credited  to  the  Cardinal,  who  refused  me  the  per- 
mission to  take  what  was  so  generously  offered. 

The  hemorrhages  from  which  I  had  been  suffer- 
ing, became  now  so  severe  that  I  decided  to  go  on 
at  once  to  Washington  to  friends,  who  I  had 
reason  to  believe  would  not  be  afraid  of  any  priest. 
I  knew  too  well,  that  however  brave  my  good 
friends  at  Baltimore  might  be,  they  were  certainly 
not  in  a  position  to  risk  the  anger  of  a  priest,  and 
I  felt  for  their  sakes  the  sooner  I  left  the  better. 
I  had  scarcely  arrived  at  my  friends'  house  in 
Washington,  when  I  became  so  much  worse  that 
they  sent  at  once  for  Dr.  Murphy  of  the  Columbia 
Hospital,  and  he  kindly  removed  me  to  the  hos- 
pital. I  was  crushed  down,  body  and  soul,  ready 
to  pray  for  death.  Alas,  death  will  not  come  for 
our  praying,  else  had  I  more  than  once  escaped 
from  those  who  have  this  strange  determination  to 


CONTINUED  ILLNESS. 


439 


hinder  my  work.  Of  one  thing  they  may  be 
assured,  they  could  not  be  more  anxious  to  see 
me  in  my  grave,  where  I  could  no  more  plead  for 
the  Working  Girl,  than  I  was  to  relieve  them  of 
the  annoyance  which  my  existence  has  been  to 
them.  As  I  found  there  was  no  prospect  of  my 
recovering  in  the  hospital,  I  removed  to  a  friend's 
house,  where  I  was  attended  by  several  physicians. 
My  heart  trouble  added  to  the  complications  of 
the  case,  and  the  state  of  prostration  which  I  was 
in  would  have  moved  the  heart  of  any  one  but  a 
priest. 

I  was  quite  unable  to  return  to  Jersey  City, 
and  the  doctors  urged  me  strongly  to  go  by  a  night 
train  to  Orkney  Springs,  as  dropsy  had  set  in  also. 
In  fact  I  was  suffering  from  a  complication  of  dis- 
eases. Even  during  this  time  of  suffering,  I  was 
not  left  in  peace.  Cardinal  Gibbons  came  to 
Washington,  and  some  busy  priest  told  him  that  I 
intended  to  collect  there.  I  need  not  say  that  I 
was  utterly  unable  to  do  anything  of  the  kind,  as 
I  could  not  sit  up  for  an  hour  in  the  day.  His 
eminence  thought  proper  to  send  me  a  message 
by  a  man  of  the  lowest  class.  This  man  em- 
ployed another  person  of  a  still  lower  class,  and  I 
was  most  grossly  insulted  by  him  without  the 
least  consideration  for  the  truth  of  the  case,  or 
the  state  of  my  health. 


440 


THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


The  fact  was,  the  work  which  I  proposed  to 
do  was  interesting  every  one  who  heard  of  it. 
There  are  many  Protestant  ladies  of  great  benev- 
olence in  Washington,  and  a  great  many  of  them 
had  been  interested  in  it.  There  was  a  great 
excitement  among  the  priests.  They  were  afraid 
that  I  would  establish  a  home  there.  They  were, 
also,  afraid  that  these  ladies  would  become  inter- 
ested in  my  work,  and  in  myself,  and  that  they 
would  come  to  know  the  great  injustice  that  had 
been  practised  on  me.  'Besides  this,  if  the  girls 
learned  to  be  independent  and  saving,  and  to  look 
out  for  themselves,  where  would  the  dollars  come 
from  when  the  priests  wanted  collections  ?  At 
this  time  they  were  planning  the  new  Roman 
Catholic  University  at  Washington,  and  I  can  now 
see  that  this  was  an  important  element  in  the 
affair.  All  the  money  and  all  the  interest  was 
wanted  for  that.  There  was  only  one  way  to  crush 
me  ;  to  give  out  in  an  indirect  way  that  I  was  not 
"  in  good  standing  with  my  church,"  and  that  was 
at  once  sufficient  to  discourage  Protestants,  who 
had  no  means  of  knowing  the  truth,  and  to  frighten 
Catholics.  The  rumor  was  circulated  widely  and 
carefully.  It  was  supposed  that  it  was  quite  im- 
possible for  a  man  like  Cardinal  Gibbons  to  refuse 
permission  to  carry  on  such  a  work  without  cause. 
The  case  certainly  seemed  mysterious.  What 


THE   OLD  STORY. 


441 


matter,  the  rumors  answered  the  purpose  for 
which  they  were  intended. 

A  Roman  Catholic  lady,  who  had  been  greatly 
interested  in  my  plans,  and  had  interested  many 
Protestant  ladies,  came  to  see  me  one  day  and 
said,  —  "I  must  give  up  all  further  efforts  for  you. 

Father has  positively  forbidden  it.  He  says 

you  are  not  in  good  standing  with  the  church." 

"  Well,"  I  said,  "  Mrs ,  I  am  in  good  standing 

with  the  Pope,  but  I  see  that  counts  for  very  little 
in  America,  and  I  am  in  good  standing  with  my 
bishop.  Here  is  his  letter ;  he  says,  '  I  warmly 
recommend  you  to  the  kindness  of  the  prelates  on 
whom  you  may  call.1  Pope  Pius  IX  sent  me  a 
special  brief,  in  which  he  said,  I  '  deserved  well  of 
the  whole  church,'  and  I  have  a  document  from 
the  Propaganda,  which  says  that  I  am  '  worthy  of 
all  trust  and  confidence.'  " 

"  Oh,"  she  said,  "  I  am  satisfied,  but  of  course 
we  cannot  go  against  the  priests."  The  old  mis- 
erable story,  —  the  story  which  has  been  the  ruin 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  church  in  so  many  coun- 
tries in  so  many  ages.  No  matter  what  the  priest 
does  or  says,  it  is,  "  a  sin  against  the  church,"  if 
any  objection  or  criticism  is  made,  and  so  all  evil 
is  condoned.  It  is  certainly  a  very  easy  way  of 
securing  the  power  to  do  wrong  unmolested. 
The  lady  was  sincerely  sorry,  but  what  could  she 


442 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


do  ?  "  Oh,"  she  said,  "do  not  be  troubled,"  for  I 
was  crying  bitterly,  "you  know  the  church  was 
always  persecuted."  "Pardon  me,"  I  said,  "in 
this  case,  it  is  the  church  which  is  persecuting." 
She  looked  amazed,  and  replied,  "  Oh,  I  never 
thought  of  that,"  and  went  sadly  home. 

I  was  now  removed  to  Orkney  Springs,  and  I 
may  say  in  all  this  time  not  even  one  priest  came 
near  me.  Indeed,  the  Protestant  doctor  who  at- 
tended me,  said  the  only  chance  for  my  recovery 
was  for  me  to  go  where  the  nearest  priest  would 
be  sixty  miles  away,  so  indignant  was  he  with 
them,  for  all  the  wanton  suffering  they  were  inflict- 
ing upon  me. 

At  Orkney  I  grew  rapidly  worse,  and  decided  I 
must  go  back  to  Jersey  City,  even  if  I  died  on  the 
way.  I  got  as  far  as  Winchester,  with  great  diffi- 
culty, and  by  slow  stages,  and  there  I  became 
dangerously  ill  ;  at  last  the  doctors  told  me,  hon- 
estly and  kindly,  that  there  was  no  hope  of  my 
recovery,  and  if  I  wished  to  die  at  home  I  should 
go  at  once,  as  it  would  be  impossible  to  remove  me 
in  a  short  time.  I  sent  for  a  second  sister,  so  that 
the  sister  who  was  with  me  might  not  be  alone  if  I 
died  on  the  way.  I  travelled  from  Winchester  to 
Washington  with  great  difficulty,  and  stopped 
there  a  night,  and  saw  Dr.  Tyler  on  my  way ;  he 
was  one  of  the  doctors  who  had  attended  me 


INVITED   BY  MOTHER  D 


443 


there  before.  He  gave  me  the  address  of  Dr.  H. 
B.  Sands  of  New  York,  and  begged  of  me  most 
urgently  to  see  him  at  once,  and  to  him,  under 
God,  I  owe  my  cure  and  my  life. 

In  the  meantime,  the  Mother  Prioress  of  a 
Dominican  Convent  in  the  New  York  Diocese 
wrote  to  a  sister,  to  beg  I  would  go  to  them.  The 
drinking  water  in  Jersey  City  had  disagreed  with 
me  almost  fatally,  and  for  many  reasons  my  going 
there  would  still  further  endanger  my  life.  I 
wrote  to  a  sister  to  go  to  her,  and  tell  her  I  feared 
Archbishop  Corrigan  would  be  very  angry  if  she 
received  me  even  for  a  day  ;  but  either  the  sister 
whom  I  sent  to  her  did  not  explain  the  matter 
clearly,  or  else  she  had  no  idea  that  personal  dis- 
like to  me  could  be  carried  so  far.  I  need  not  say 
all  my  own  sisters  were  in  great  distress,  and 
looking  eagerly  to  anything  that  might  give  me 
even  temporary  relief.  For  myself,  I  knew  that 
if  I  went  back  to  our  house  in  Jersey  City,  I 
should  certainly  go  there  to  die,  and  though  I  was 
quite  willing  to  die,  I  could  not  be  without  feeling 
for  the  poor  sisters  who  were  so  fondly  attached 
to  me,  who  had  been  with  me  in  all  my  troubles 
in  Ireland,  and  who  knew  all  I  had  to  endure,  and 
that  all  includes  far  more  than  I  could  venture 
to  record  in  this  volume. 

When  I  thought  how  I  had  left  our  Convent  in 


444 


TffE  M**  OF 


Jersey  City  so  full  of  hope,  trusting  to  the  blessing 
and  support  of  my  bishop,  whose  last  words  to  me 
were,  "  Good-by  and  good  luck."  I  felt  I  could 
not  go  back  to  the  house  in  my  state  of  utter  pros- 
tration and  depression,  and  I  gladly  accepted 
Mother  D  -  's  offer.  It  will  be  said,  perhaps,  why 
was  I  so  anxious  to  extend  the  Order  ?  Well,  I 
can  only  say,  why  should  I  not  have  been  anxious  ? 
According  to  all  the  teaching  of  Roman  Catholic 
theology,  I  was  bound  to  use  all  reasonable  efforts 
to  obtain  success.  It  will  be  seen  that  I  did  no 
more  than  the  foundresses  of  other  religious  orders. 
I  could  not  be  responsible  for  the  effect  to  my 
bodily  health.  Why  should  I  not  wish  to  carry 
on  my  work  and  extend  it,  even  if  I  did  so  in 
suffering?  I  suppose  when  God  gives  an  inspira- 
tion to  any  one  to  do  good,  that  he  intends  them 
to  use  every  reasonable  effort  to  do  it.  I  was  not 
only  doing  this,  but  I  was  doing  it  in  the  strictest 
obedience  to  the  rules  of  the  church  to  which  I 
belonged.  I  had  the  permission  and  the  especial 
blessing  of  my  bishop,  and  now  I  have  the  great 
consolation  of  knowing  that  I  left  nothing  undone, 
and  that  I  never  counted  the  cost  to  myself  in 
trying  to  accomplish  what  the  Holy  Father  author- 
ized me  to  do,  and  as  I  have  resigned  and  ceased 
from  troubling  I  trust  it  will  satisfy  all  who  are 
concerned. 


DRIVEN  FROM  MOTHER  D .  445 

There  was  another  reason  why  Mother  D 

was  anxious  to  show  me  kindness.  She  had  sent 
a  young  lady  to  me,  two  of  whose  sisters  are  pro- 
fessed in  her  own  order,  one  in  her  own  convent, 
and  the  other  in  a  convent  in  the  Brooklyn  Diocese. 
For  some  reason  she  had  not  been  able  to  provide 
for  this  young  lady,  and  I  had  received  her  into 
our  Novitiate,  and  she  is  now  a  professed  sister. 

Both  Mother  D and  the  sisters  of  this  young 

lady  were  very  grateful  to  me,  and  I  have  before 
me  now  some  letters  from  them. 

But  poor  Mother  D was  soon  aroused  to  the 

enormity  of  the  crime  she  had  committed  in  offer- 
ing me  the  hospitality  of  her  convent.  I  was 
obliged  to  leave  at  a  moment's  notice.  Not  quite 
so  tyrannically  and  unjustly  as  in  Dublin,  but  the 
whole  act  was  little  less  heartless.  Mother  D. 
came  to  me  after  I  had  been  some  days  in  her 
convent,  to  say  that  she  had  just  received  orders 
through  a  lady,  a  great  friend  of  Archbishop 
Corrigan,  who  told  her  that  he  was  very  angry 
indeed  because  I  was  with  her,  and  that  she  must 
send  me  away  at  once.  "  I  had  no  idea,"  she  said, 
"the  archbishop  had  such  a  strong  feeling  against 
you." 

I  told  Mother  D 1  would  take  care  she  should 

not  have  any  more  blame  on  my  account,  for  she 
seemed  greatly  frightened,  and  said  this  lady  was 


446 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


one  with  whom  the  archbishop  was  very  intimate, 
and  a  person  of  high  position.  And  I  may  add 
here  that  this  is  yet  another  proof,  if  proof  were 
necessary,  of  how  thoroughly  this  episcopal  oppo- 
sition to  me  was  circulated  in  every  direction.  I 
sent  the  sister  who  was  with  me  to  a  place  where 
she  could  drive  in  half  an  hour,  to  get  a  room  for 
me  and  herself.  I  was  beginning  to  recover  a 
little  from  the  journey,  and  to  feel  that  I  might 
get  the  courage  to  submit  to  the  severe  operations 
which  I  had  to  go  through  soon  after,  and  for 
which  I  had  to  go  to  a  public  hospital  in  New 
York.  It  was  the  talk  everywhere,  why  did  I  not 
go  to  a  convent  ?  But  for  peace's  sake  I  held  my 
tongue,  and  never  explained  how  I  had  just  been 
expelled  from  one,  and  thus  I  have,  over  and  over 
again,  kept  silence  and  taken  blame  which  was 
entirely  undeserved,  and  this  to  screen  those  who 
never  ceased  making  false  charges  against  me. 

In  the  meantime,  I  was  offered  yet  another  foun- 
dation by  a  good  priest,  but  unfortunately  it  was 
also  in  the  New  York  diocese.  I  knew  from  the 
first  that  there  was  not  the  slightest  chance  that 
Archbishop  Corrigan  would  allow  me  to  accept  it, 
but  there  were  many  reasons  why  I  thought  it  well 
to  ask  him. 

The  first  reason  was  that  my  bishop  wished  me 
to  do  so  ;  the  next  was,  that  I  had  been  told  so 


UNFORTUNATE  PRIESTS, 


44? 


often,  and  knew  it  to  be  true,  that,  so  long  as 
Archbishop  Corrigan  refused  even  to  see  me, 
there  would  be  little  hope  for  the  extension  of  my 
Order  in  America.  It  is  not  that  he  has  any 
special  control  over  any  other  bishop,  but  New 
York  holds  a  sort  of  primacy  of  honor.  It  is  the 
ecclesiastical  port  which  admits  to  the  country, 
and  if  you  are  pronounced  a  contraband  article 
there,  you  need  go  no  further.  If  you  are  boy- 
cotted by  New  York  authorities,  your  case  is  past 
appeal.  And  I  must  admit  that  the  bishops  have 
need  to  protect  each  other.  I  have  seen  it  stated, 
on  good  Roman  Catholic  authority,  that  there  are 
at  least  one  thousand  priests  in  America  who 
are  "  off  the  mission."  Far  the  larger  number  are 
priests  who  have  been  driven  to  drink  and  despair 
by  ecclesiastical  injustice.  Their  condition  is 
indeed  miserable.  I  myself  have  been  called  on 
by  a  considerable  number  of  such  priests.  Their 
brother  priests,  who  are  more  fortunate  and  more 
submissive,  rarely  ever  refuse  them  a  few  dollars, 
and  so  they  live  on,  —  a  miserable  existence. 
The  minority,  who  are  good-living  priests,  go  into 
some  secular  business,  where  they  are  obliged,  both 
for  peace's  sake  and  to  avoid  persecution,  to  conceal 
their  identity  as  far  as  possible,  while  quite  a 
number  are  honored  and  respected  pastors  in 
different  religious  denominations. 


448  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

It  is  no  pleasure  to  publish  such  statements, 
but  evil  concealed  is  evil  multiplied,  and  the  dis- 
credit to  the  church  is  not  so  much  that  such 
evils  are  too  common,  it  is  rather  that  they  are 
not  denounced  by  those  who  could  do  much  to 
prevent  them  by  denunciation,  and  who  make 
themselves  sharers  in  the  guilt  by  denouncing 
those  who  expose,  and  by  so  doing  endeavor  to 
lessen  such  evils. 

The  St.  Louis  Republican  of  June  20,  1887, 
printed  a  letter  from  Bishop  Hogan  of  the 
Catholic  diocese  of  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  which  was 
brought  out  in  court,  and  was  never  intended 
for  publication  ;  but  it  reveals  a  sad  state  of 
affairs. 

The  bishop  appointed  a  German  priest  over  an 
Irish  congregation.  This  gave  so  great  offence 
to  some  parties,  that  the  letter  in  question  was 
written  in  self-defence.  His  defence  is,  that  the 
priests  of  his  diocese  were  so  intemperate  that  he 
was  compelled  to  supply  the  parish  as  he  did. 
He  then  gives  a  list  by  name  of  twenty-two 
priests,  that  were  received  into  the  diocese  from 
1869  to  1876,  whom  he  was  compelled  to  dismiss 
on  account  of  immorality,  especially  drunkenness. 
Some  of  them  are  described  as  "  constantly 
drunk;"  one  is  "now  going  round  from  city  to 
city,  a  drunken  wreck."  So  disgraceful  was  the 


OUTWARD    UNANIMITY. 


449 


state  of  affairs,  that  he  was  compelled  at  last  to 
"turn  over  a  new  leaf."  He  says,  — 

But  I  cannot  give  the  rest  of  this  letter  here, 
although  it  has  been  widely  published,  it  reveals 
so  scandalous  a  story  and  on  such  unquestionable 
authority. 

It  is  necessary  for  Roman  Catholic  bishops  to 
stand  to  each  other.  It  would  be  impossible  to 
crush  a  good  priest  who  was  too  zealous  in  good 
works,  or  to  get  rid  of  one  who  in  despair  had 
taken  to  drink,  if  the  bishops  did  not  act  as  one 
man  in  their  likes  and  dislikes,  and  make  no  curi- 
ous inquiries  as  to  the  rights  and  wrongs  of  cases. 

The  same  rule  holds  good  with  regard  to  sisters. 
If  a  sister  is  sent  out  of  a  convent,  and  many 
are  so  sent  every  year,  it  is  necessary  for  bishops 
to  observe  the  same  conditions.  It  does  not  seem 
to  matter  the  least  about  the  soul  of  the  sister  or 
the  priest.  Ecclesiastical  discipline,  which  means 
an  outward  appearance  of  unanimity  must  be  kept 
up  before  the  public.  Standing  water  is  apt  to  be- 
come stagnant.  Until  the  Roman  Catholic  church 
learns  that  her  bishops  are  as  likely  to  be  fallible 
as  other  people  in  their  conduct,  and  until  it 
ceases  to  be  called  a  sin  to  say  so  openly,  there 
will  be  grievous  evils  and  the  stagnant  water  will 
remain. 

What  is  to  be  the  result  in  regard  to  the  supply 


450 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


of  priests  and  sisters  when  Irish  immigration  is 
overdone,  or  when  they  cease  to  come  from  Ire- 
land, is  a  matter  which  certainly  will  have  its  effect 
sooner  or  later. 

But  I  must  return  to  this  last  foundation.  An- 
other great  good  to  souls  was  forbidden.  Another 
help  to  the  poor  working  girl  unjustly  denied  to 
her.  At  this  time,  as  I  have  said,  the  Rev. 

Father    P was   very   anxious   that    I    should 

establish  a  home  for  girls  in  his  parish,  where 
there  were  no  sisters.  He  had  some  factory  girls 
who  needed  teaching,  and,  as  he  said  very  prop- 
erly, he  could  not  bring  them  to  his  house  for 
instruction  in  the  evenings,  and  they  could  not 
come  at  any  other  time.  Besides  this,  I  had  long 
been  inquiring  for  a  suitable  place  for  a  summer 
home  for  girls.  The  great  difficulty  was  to  find  a 
good  location,  when  we  were  forbidden  to  take 
any  place  in  the  large  diocese  of  New  York,  and 
all  the  most  desirable  localities  for  the  purpose 
are  in  this  diocese.  A  very  large  number  of  such 
institutions  have  been  established  by  Protestants, 
to  the  great  comfort  and  help  of  poor  Catholic 
girls.  They  are  denied  by  their  ecclesiastical 
superiors  that  help  and  care  which  they  so  much 
need,  and  denounced  by  them  if  they  accept  what 
Protestants  offer  so  generously.  This  fatuitous 
policy  may  prosper  for  a  while,  but  it  will  cer- 


SHUT  OFF  FROM  THE  HUDSON  RIVER. 


451 


tainly  have  results  which  its  promoters  are  too 
blind  to  anticipate,  and  about  which,  probably, 
they  would  not  concern  themselves.  They  are 
safe  for  their  own  day,  their  successors  may  look 
out  for  themselves. 

Over  the  great  Exchange  of  London,  England, 
there  is  a  motto,  "  The  earth  is  the  Lord's,  and 
the  fulness  thereof."  Somehow,  this  came  to  my 
mind  when  I  found  that  Archbishop  Corrigan 
owned  ecclesiastically  all  the  land  on  both  sides 
of  the  Hudson,  with  the  exception  of  a  little  nar- 
row piece  in  Bishop  Wigger's  diocese.  Practically, 
as  far  as  we  were  concerned,  Archbishop  Corrigan 
owned  the  "  earth  and  the  fulness  thereof,"  and 
we  could  claim  no  part  of  it. 

The  Hudson  River,  on  the  shore  of  which  I 
wished  to  establish  our  institution,  and  where 
the  working  girls  much  wished  to  be,  was  practi- 
cally cut  off  from  our  use.  I  must,  however,  here, 
in  justice  to  Archbishop  Corrigan,  say  that  accord- 
ing to  the  canon  law  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
church  he  had  a  perfect  right  to  refuse  us  entrance 
into  his  diocese.  It  is  a  canon  law  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  church,  and  a  very  proper  one,  that  sis- 
ters cannot  establish  themselves  in  any  diocese 
without  the  permission  of  the  bishop  of  that  dio- 
cese ;  but  this  very  rule  supposes  that  a  bishop 
will  grant  all  reasonable  requests,  and,  in  my  case,, 


452 


THE  NUN  OF  KEN  MARE. 


it  should  be  observed  that  these  requests  came  not 
only  from  me  but  from  priests  who  were  men  of 
experience,  and  who  had  every  right  to  know 
whether  our  work  was  necessary  in  their  parish  or 
not.  It  should  be  observed,  also,  that  in  most 
cases  it  was  the  interference  of  ecclesiastics  who 
had  no  right  to  interfere,  which  caused  all  this  loss 
to  souls. 

The  record  would  be  too  long,  and  too  sorrow- 
ful, if  I  wrote  much  more.  I  shall  only  say  that 
Archbishop  Corrigan  refused  this  permission,  and 
I  felt  it  deeply,  because  the  place  would  have  been 
especially  suitable  for  our  work,  and  we  could 
have  made  it  entirely  self-supporting,  and  could 
have  combined  a  summer  home  for  girls  with  the 
work  in  the  parish,  and  the  care  of  these  poor  fac- 
tory girls.  I  shall  now  give  two  other  cases  only, 
and  I  may  say  that  it  was  in  consequence  of  the 
last  of  these  cases,  that  I  decided  finally  to  resign 
my  office  as  mother  general  of  the  order,  as  I  saw 
plainly  that  personal  dislike  to  myself  was  the 
cause  of  all  this  opposition,  and  I  could  only  offer 
my  own  feelings  as  a  sacrifice  to  those  who  have 
so  long  tried  to  injure  me.  Now  they  can  no 
longer  have  cause  to  complain,  as  I  have  ceased  to 
exist  as  far  as  this  work  is  concerned,  and  I  do  not 
see  how  they  can  oppose  the  sisters  who  are  carry- 
(ing  it  on. 


APPLICAl^ION  FROM  CLEVELAND.  45 3 

In  the  month  of  June  in  the  year  1885,  a  priest 
of  the  diocese  of  Cleveland  wrote  to  Bishop 
Wigger  first,  and  subsequently  to  myself,  saying 
how  much  he  desired  that  I  should  found  a  house 
for  girls  in  his  parish.  His  sister,  he  said,  had 
considerable  property,  which  she  wished  to  devote 
to  this  purpose.  He  said,  also,  that  he  could  give 
much  assistance  himself,  and  that  he  would  even 
come  to  see  me  if  I  wished  to  arrange  everything 
further.  As  he  was  aware  of  my  position  as  a 
writer,  he  thought  we  could  work  together  to 
great  advantage  for  the  good  of  the  church  in 
Catholic  literature.  I  gratefully  accepted  his  offer, 
subject  to  the  usual  conditions  of  ecclesiastical  per- 
mission, but  I  knew  from  the  first  that  the  case 
was  hopeless.  I  had  reason  to  think  that  the  bishop 
of  this  diocese  was  a  correspondent  of  the  poor 
Scotch  priest  who  had  been  guilty  of  publishing 
these  slanders  about  me,  and  who  could  not  be  re- 
strained even  by  the  commands  of  his  superior,  Car- 
Anal  Manning.  I  knew,  also,  that  this  bishop  was 
greatly  opposed  to  the  Ladies'  Land  League,  and 
one  of  the  false  reports  which  had  been  circulated 
about  me,  was  that  I  was  president  of  that  body. 
As  a  rule,  where  I  was  concerned,  it  will  be  ob- 
served that  bishops  rarely  took  the  trouble  to 
ascertain  whether  a  report  was  true  or  false,  but 
simply  acted  on  it  as  if  it  were  true.  They  be- 


454 


THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


lieved  just  what  they  wished  to  believe,  but  it 
was  long  before  I  realized  this.  I  felt  sure  this 
bishop  had  .always  been  prejudiced  against  me,  and 
I  knew  that  a  bishop's  prejudices  are  immovable 
even  before  facts.  I  was  not  surprised,  (I  was 
only  grieved,  for  then  I  was  not  quite  hardened  to 
disappointment),  when  I  found  that  the  arrange- 
ment was  not  only  positively  but  even  angrily 
forbidden. 

Quite  recently  I  received  an  abusive  and  most 
ungentlemanly  letter  from  a  priest  in  this  diocese. 
It  would  be  amusing,  if  it  did  not  show  the  real 
character  of  men  whom  one  would  wish  to  honor 
if  they  would  allow  us  to  do  so.  This  priest,  who 
writes  in  the  style  of  Father  Angus,  of  Scotch 
fame,  if  indeed  he  has  not  been  inspired  by  him, 
says  that  he  has  "to  give  me  a  bit  of  advice." 
Well,  I  am  willing  to  take  advice,  but  I  do  not  see 
what  right  a  priest  of  the  diocese  of  Cleveland  has 
to  advise  and  direct  a  sister  in  another  diocese. 
His  especial  indignation  was  excited  by  a  series  of 
articles,  which  I  was  writing  in  the  Sun,  and  he 
orders  me  "  to  either  stop  writing  or  to  leave  the 
cloister."  He  declares  "  it  is  impossible  for  me  to 
be  a  true  religious,  and  to  write."  In  fact  the 
whole  letter  is  childish  and  absurd  to  the  last  de- 
gree, and  the  occasion  of  it  is  not  the  least  absurd 
point  of  it.  He  informs  me,  that  "  if  I  do  not  obey 


AN  OFFER   FROM   TACOMA. 


455 


his  orders  promptly,  he  will  write  to  my  bishop." 
As  far  as  I  was  concerned  he  could  write  to  my 
bishop  as  much  as  he  wished,  and  I  give  him  joy 
of  all  the  satisfaction  he  was  likely  to  get.  I 
think  the  Bishop  of  Cleveland  should  see  to  it  that 
his  priests  do  not  interfere  with  the  sisters  of 
other  dioceses,  as  this  foolish  man  has  done  with 
me.  I  have  the  letter  before  me  now  as  I  write, 
and  I  shall  be  happy  to  show  the  original  to  any 
one  who  has  a  right  to  ask  to  see  it.  I  would  not 
take  so  much  notice  of  the  matter,  but  that  I 
know  it  is  necessary  for  me  to  show  the  way  in 
which  I  have  been  attacked,  both  in  public  and  in 
private,  and  the  very  grave  reasons  I  have  for 
giving  up  my  work. 

During  the  fall  of  last  year,  1887,  I  had  an  offer 
of  another  foundation,  of  which  I  thought  I  was 
sure.  At  least,  I  thought  no  one  would  care  to 
interfere  in  this  case.  A  priest  wrote  to  me  from 
Tacoma,  W.  T.,  saying  that  he  wanted  sisters,  and 
that  he  had  tried  in  vain  to  get  them  from  dif- 
ferent convents,  but  the  district  was  so  poor  and 
so  remote  no  one  would  come.  From  what  he 
said,  I  saw  there  was  a  grand  opening  there  for 
a  new  religious  order  like  ours.  I  knew  that 
neither  the  distance  nor  the  poverty  would  hinder 
my  sisters  from  going.  On  the  contrary,  we  have 
always  preferred  poor  and  destitute  places,  which 


456 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


others  would  refuse.  I  hoped,  indeed,  that  this 
mission  was  so  rem.ote  from  New  York,  that  it 
would  not  be  possible  for  me  to  be  followed 
there  by  ecclesiastical  persecution.  I  even  hoped 
that  if  the  proposal  was  heard  of,  it  would  not  be 
opposed,  as  the  distance  was  so  great,  and  that  Arch- 
bishop Corrigan  would  be  glad  to  have  me  so  far 
away.  If  I  could  not  be  allowed  to  have  a  little 
spot  of  land  on  the  Hudson,  I  hoped  I  might  be 
permitted  to  work  for  the  church  in  this  lonely 
and  distant  territory. 

I  have  before  me  all  the  correspondence,  as  I 
have  also  the  correspondence  alluded  to  before. 

On  Nov.  9,  1887,  the  good  priest  wrote  to  me 
that  he  had  obtained  his  bishop's  consent  to  all 
the  arrangements.  I  ought,  if  possible,  to  have 
gone  on  at  once,  before  the  news  reached  the  ears 
of  my  Episcopal  persecutors  ;  but  it  was  impossi- 
ble for  me  to  do  so  on  account  of  my  state  of 
health,  and  I  deferred  the  arrangement  until 
Spring,  when  I  expected  to  be  able  to  go  and 
take  several  sisters  with  me. 

I  should  add  here,  that  I  have  had  no  difficulty 
in  getting  sisters.  Since  I  came  to  America,  and 
even  indeed  in  Knock,  I  had  repeated  applications 
from  convents  wishing  me  to  get  postulants  for 
them.  I  know  that  many  convents  in  the  South 
and  West  are  dying  out,  because  they  cannot  get 


T A  CO  MA   FORBIDDEN. 


457 


young  sisters.  I  always  did  all  I  could  for  these 
sisters,  and  the  great  wealth  which  some  of  them 
possess,  enabled  them  to  pay  the  expenses  of  girls 
going  out  to  America  from  Ireland.  So,  many 
were  found  to  go,  who  could  not  have  done  so,  if 
they  had  had  to  pay  for  a  passage  to  America.  It 
seemed  very  hard  to  me  to  be  refused  leave  to 
extend  our  Order,  when  I  could  have  easily  found 
so  many  bright,  willing  sisters  to  go  anywhere 
that  we  wished  to  establish  a  convent. 

But  to  return  to  this  priest.  On  Nov.  16,  1887, 
he  wrote  to  me  again  :  "  Our  dear  bishop  will  be 
only  too  glad  to  accept  you."  I  had  no  further 
anxiety,  except  to  prepare  the  sisters  for  the  new 
and  glorious  work.  The  priest  had  told  me,  that 
there  were  quite  a  number  of  places  where  the 
sisters  would  be  thankfully  received  by  priests  in 
this  remote  diocese.  In  February  of  this  year, 
1888,  I  wrote  to  this  priest,  telling  him  that  I 
would  soon  arrange  to  go  on  to  Tacoma,  as  I  had 
considerably  improved  in  health  after  passing  the 
winter  in  the  South.  I  also  referred  him  to 
Bishop  Wigger,  and  to  Bishop  Bagshawe,  as  they 
could  tell  him  how  effectively  our  sisters  had 
worked  in  their  respective  dioceses.  To  my  amaze- 
ment, I  received  a  letter  from  him,  saying  that  the 
bishop  of  his  diocese  had  refused  to  receive  me, 
and  for  fear  that  I  should  go  there,  he  wrote  that 


458  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

I  must  not  even  come  to  make  further  inquiries  or 
arrangements.  I  was  amused  at  this,  because  I 
know  certain  persons  in  New  York  were  greatly 
afraid  lest  bishop  or  priests  might  see  me,  and  find- 
ing out  that  I  was  not  the  evil  doer  they  wished 
them  to  think,  might  allow  me  to  work  for  their 
poor  girls.  So  once  more,  a  work  which  promised 
to  do  no  ordinary  good  for  souls,  was  defeated  by 
the  malice  and  injustice  of  some  one.  Oh  strange, 
oh  mysterious  Providence !  Ecclesiastics  com- 
plain that  the  sheep  of  the  fold  are  persecuted 
and  oppressed,  and  yet-  they  will  not  allow  them 
to  be  saved.  Everywhere  in  America,  Protestant 
institutions  for  working  girls,  and  many  other 
charities  abound  and  prosper,  and  yet  the  church 
denounces  them  and  denounces  those  of  her  chil- 
dren who  may  receive  any  help  from  them  in  their 
hour  of  need,  while  she  refuses  help  herself. 

Everywhere  she  exults,  not  in  the  number  of  her 
faithful  poor,  not  that  she  has  fewer  criminals,  not 
that  her  people  are  living  holier  or  more  devoted 
lives,  or  abstaining  from  that  fatal  liquor,  which  is 
the  curse  of  so  many  of  her  children  ;  no,  her 
exultation  and  her  joy  is  in  the  great  and  the  rich 
of  this  world.  Alas,  this  love  of  the  world,  and 
this  desire  of  wealth  and  riches,  is  a  poor  note  of 
sanctity  for  a  Catholic  church. 

With   one   more   sorrowful    case,    I   close   this 


APPLICATION   TO  MISS  SCHLEY. 


459 


record  of  failure.  God  knows,  perhaps,  he  saw  in 
me  some  great  unworthiness  for  the  work  for  him 
and  his  poor,  and  in  myself  must  lie  some  of  the 
blame  for  this  repeated  failure.  If  so,  I  shall  die 
happy  if  I  live  to  see  the  success  of  others  in  this 
divine  and  holy  work. 

In  May  of  this  year,  1888,  the  following  para- 
graph appeared  in  the  N.  W.  Chronicle,  (Roman 
Catholic)  St.  Paul,  Minn. 

"Miss  Schley,  who  started  and  has  managed  the 
Young  Girl's  Home,  620  St.  Peter  Street,  St.  Paul, 
Minn.,  is  very  anxious  to  find  two  or  three  good, 
pious,  educated  ladies  to  assist  her  in  the  manage- 
ment of  the  home,  as  her  health  is  so  miserable  as 
to  make  her  unfit  to  attend  to  it  properly.  It  is 
doing  much  good,  and  as  the  citizens  generally 
have  given  much  towards  it,  she  feels  it  her  duty 
not  to  let  it  run  down.  Those  feeling  inclined  to 
assist  in  the  good  work  of  maintaining  this  cheap, 
pleasant  home  for  working  girls,  please  apply  there 
as  soon  as  possible." 

I  had  heard  of  this  lady  and  her  work  before, 
but  I  had  also  heard  that  there  was  a  very  bitter 
opposition  to  me  on  the  part  of  some  priest  in  that 
diocese.  I  wrote  at  once  to  Miss  Schley,  and 
asked  her  would  she  accept  the  services  of  our 
sisters.  She  wrote  to  me  in  reply  promptly,  — 


460 


NUN 


"  REVEREND  AND  DEAR  MOTHER,  —  Your  very 
kind  letter  of  the  28th  inst  has  been  received,  and 
its  contents  perused  with  great  pleasure.  I  must 
tell  you  this,  that  your  letter  has  been  the  only  one 
thus  far,  in  answer  to  my  appeal  for  help  in  my 
work  in  the  N.  W.  Chronicle.  I  have  long  heard 
of  you,  and  admire  you  for  your  unbounded  zeal 
for  work,  but  I  also  know  of  the  opposition  you 
are  meeting  with,  and  I  can  assure  you,  dear 
Mother,  on  this  very  account  I  am  more  inclined 
to  like  you  and  to  appreciate  your  work,  for  I 
know  I  have  much  opposition  from  similar  sources 
not  caused  by  any  fault  of  mine,  but  simply  be- 
cause I  am  doing  good  in  a  different  way  from  the 
way  they  would  wish." 

After  some  further  remarks  on  the  same  sub- 
ject, she  says,  — 

"  I  went  down  to  see  Rev.  Father  Shanly  about 
it,  but  you  know,  I  suppose,  that  he  is  one  of  your 
well-meaning  opponents,  and  he  would  not  permit 
me  to  bring  one  of  your  sisters  here,  as  this  house 
is  situated  in  his  parish." 

I  had  already  heard  of  this  reverend  father,  and 
of  his  opposition  to  me.  A  young  lady  who  was 
most  anxious  to  join  our  order  was  positively 
forbidden  to  do  so  on  going  to  that  part  of  the 
country  to  visit  some  friends  before  entering  with 


FATHER  SHANLY'S  OPPOSITION.  461 

us.     I  have  her  letters  before  me  now,  in  which 
she  says,  — 

"  I  decided  to  enter  your  order,  but  I  was  speak- 
ing to  the  priest  about  it,  and  he  told  me  to  have 
nothing  to  do  with  you.  I  cannot  understand 
why  the  priests  are  not  in  favor  of  you,  for  I 
think  if  any  persons  are  doing  their  part,  you 
are." 

But  I  have  yet  more  to  say  regarding  Father 
Shanly.  Like  a  number  of  my  ecclesiastical  op- 
ponents, he  thought  proper  to  condemn  me  and 
only  hear  one  side.  He  made  a  most  scandalous 
attack  on  me  in  the  N.  W.  Chronicle.  In  this 
paper,  he  says,  — 

"  Will  any  one  at  this  late  day  number  among 
claimants  for  charity,  that  religious  Poo-Bah-politi- 
cal  economist,  hagiographer,  young  girls'  adviser, 
pamphleteer,  mistress  of  novices,  historian,  beggar 
and  nun,  who  for  twenty  years  and  more,  both 
in  Ireland  and  America,  has  been  an  irrepressible 
nuisance  ?  Will  any  one  in  his  right  mind  give 
her  more  money  to  squander,  after  the  monument 
of  folly  she  has  left  at  Knock  ?  " 

On  this,  I  think  I  need  make  no  remark.  As 
to  the  sneer  at  me  as  a  hagiographer,  Pius  IX. 
said  I  deserved  well  of  the  whole  church  for  my 


462  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

writings  in  that  direction.  As  to  being  "  mistress 
of  novices  "  I  was  appointed  such  by  my  ecclesias- 
tical superiors.  And  as  for  my  begging,  I  cer- 
tainly did  beg  for  the  poor.  The  monument  of 
folly  at  Knock  is  fully  explained  elsewhere.  Now 
I  can  understand  a  priest  being  led  away  by 
false  reports,  as  well  as  a  layman,  but  I  cannot 
understand,  why,  when  a  priest  is  given  evidence 
to  prove  that  he  has  been  deceived,  he  will  not 
make  as  public  a  retraction  and  apology  as  he  has 
made  attack.  When  this  attack  on  me  appeared 
in  this  paper  in  St.  Paul,  Minnesota,  I  wrote  both 
to  the  editor,  and  to  Father  Shanly  requesting 
that  a  contradiction  would  be  inserted,  especially 
to  the  charges  made  against  me  with  regard  to 
Knock.  I  received  no  reply  from  either  party. 
No  doubt  the  editor  of  the  paper  was  a  suffi- 
ciently honest  man,  but  the  honest  man  dare  not 
contradict  the  slanders  of  a  priest  in  his  own 
paper. 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

MY  ONLY   INTERVIEW   WITH   ARCHBISHOP 
CORRIGAN. 

Discourtesy  of  Archbishop  Corrigan  —  He  Wishes  to  see  Me  —  His 
Charges  Against  Me  —  A  Not  Forthcoming  Letter  —  Priestly  Dif- 
ferences —  A  Poor  Compliment  to  the  Holy  Father. 

I  HAD  been  three  years  in  America,  and  had  not 
succeeded  in  obtaining  the  common  courtesy  of  an 
interview  from  Archbishop  Corrigan.  Such  a 
marked  discourtesy  naturally  excited  a  great  deal 
of  comment.  It  perplexed  people  very  much  to 
know  that  a  sister  who  had  been  so  well  received 
in  Rome,  should  be  so  discourteously  treated  in 
New  York.  One  of  two  conclusions  was  in- 
evitable, either  that  Archbishop  Corrigan  did  not 
approve  of  the  decision  of  the  Holy  Father,  or 
that  he  had  some  grave  personal  feeling  against 
me.  A  report  was  very  widely  circulated  in  con- 
nection with  the  McGlyn  case,  that  Archbishop 
Corrigan  had  plainly  stated  his  intention  to  resign 
his  Episcopal  See,  if  the  pope  took  the  part  of 
Dr.  McGlyn  in  any  way,  and  it  is  an  open  secret 
that  Roman  Catholic  bishops  can  be  contumacious 
sometimes.  Whatever  the  archbishop's  reasons 
463 


464 


THE  N&N  OF 


may  have  been,  he  refused  to  see  me,  and  I  was 
seriously  embarrassed  in  consequence.  I  was  told 
again  and  again  that  as  long  as  Archbishop  Cor- 
rigan  showed  such  marked  disapproval  of  me  and 
my  work,  it  was  useless  for  me  to  hope  for  success. 
In  fact,  the  only  notice  which  he  took  of  us  was  to 
make  repeated  and  frivolous  complaints  of  the 
sisters. 

I  was,  therefore,  not  a  little  surprised  when  I 
received  a  letter  from  the  archbishop,  saying  he 
wished  to  see  me.  I  must  say  I  had  very  little 
hope  of  any  good  result,  and  at  the  time  I  was  so 
ill  as  to  be  very  unfit  to  face  a  painful  interview. 
How  differently  I  had  felt  when  I  had  the  honor 
of  an  audience  with  the  Holy  Father. 

I  was  far  too  ill  to  drive  across  New  York  to 
this  interview.  I  stayed  the  previous  night  at  a 
hotel  near  the  archbishop's  palace,  so  as  to  go  to 
the  interview  as  little  fatigued  as  possible.  I 
could  not  imagine  what  was  the  archbishop's 
motive  in  wishing  to  see  me,  after  his  long  refusal  ; 
at  all  events,  it  enabled  his  friends  to  say  for  him, 
if  he  did  not  do  so  for  himself,  that  he  had  seen 
me.  I  was  received  with  courtesy  ;  I  believe  the 
archbishop  is  always  courteous.  If  he  had  lived  in 
mediaeval  ages,  I  could  imagine  him  smiling  with 
seraphic  grace  as  he  handed  a  victim  over  to  the 
secular  power,  to  be  dealt  with  according  to  that 


INTERVIEW  WITH  THE  ARCHBISHOP, 


465 


secular  law  which  bishops  are  wont  to  denounce 
on  occasion,  as  Bishop  Higgins  did  in  my  case 
with  so  much  warmth,  and  to  avail  themselves  of 
with  so  much  eagerness,  when  it  is  not  possible  or 
politic  to  inflict  punishment  in  any  other  way  on 
those  who  are  obnoxious  to  them. 

I  had  too  long  known  Archbishop  Corrigan's 
sentiments  in  my  regard  to  expect  the  least  interest 
in  my  work  or  myself.  He  saw  me  alone,  and  the 
sister  who  came  with  me  waited  in  an  anteroom 
in  some  anxiety  to  know  the  result,  which  was 
just  what  I  expected.  The  archbishop  began 
with  making  the  absurd  charge  against  me  of 
having  said  that,  "  I  would  collect  wherever  I 
pleased,  in  spite  of  all  ecclesiastical  authority, 
and  that  I  had  the  pope's  permission  to  do  so." 
I  replied  to  his  grace,  that  I  had  never  said  any- 
thing of  the  kind,  that  even  if  I  had  wished  to  act 
in  this  way,  I  would  not  have  been  so  foolish  as 
to  say  I  had  an  authority  which  it  could  easily  be 
proved  I  did  not  possess.  The  archbishop  said  he 
had  a  letter  which  would  prove  his  point,  and 
which  he  would  read  for  me.  He  left  the  room  for 
a  moment  to  get  the  letter,  and  returned  smiling 
his  satisfaction,  as  one  would  do,  who  would  forever 
silence  and  condemn  an  offender  by  indisputable 
testimony. 

I  listened  with  no  little  interest  to  the  reading 


466  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

of  this  letter,  all  the  more  so  as  it  was  actually  the 
first  time  any  of  my  accusers  had  vouchsafed  to  do 
anything  but  make  a  charge  against  me  without  an 
attempt  at  proof ;  but  my  amazement  was  indeed 
unbounded  when  the  letter  was  read  to  me  by  the 
archbishop.  I  remember  the  contents  almost  ver- 
bally, for  as  I  knew  that  I  was  entirely  innocent 
of  the  charge,  I  was  very  curious  to  know  how  it 
could  be  proved. 

And  this  was  the  substance  of  the  letter,  the 
writer  whose  name  the  archbishop  would  not  tell 
me,  said  that  he  had  spent  an  entire  day  searching 
through  the  papers  of  a  gentleman  who  was  dead, 
looking  for  this  letter  of  mine,  in  which  I  had 
made  the  statement  complained  of,  and  that  he 
regretted  to  say  he  could  not  find  it. 

I  looked  at  the  archbishop  in  simple  amazement, 
and  I  must  admit,  only  the  matter  was  so  serious, 
I  should  have  felt  inclined  to  smile. 

At  last  I  said  :  "  And  so  your  grace  this  is  the 
charge  :  I  am  accused  by  a  priest,  whose  name 
you  will  not  tell  me,  of  having  written  to  a  gentle- 
man who  is  dead,  whose  name  you  will  not  tell  me, 
on  a. date  which  you  will  not  tell  me,  and  of  having 
said  that  I  would  act  in  defiance  of  ecclesias- 
tical authority  ;  I  ask  your  grace  what  would  be 
thought  if  a  charge  was  brought  in  a  public  law- 
court  against  the  humblest  person  in  America  on 


DOUBLE  DEALING. 


467 


such  evidence."  His  reply  was  :  "  Oh,  I  am  sure 
you  wrote  the  letter,  all  the  same."  I  replied, 
"  Then  your  grace  there  is  no  more  to  be  said." 

His  grace  then  turned  off  the  question  to  an- 
other charge.  "At  all  events,  I  can  prove  that 
your  sisters  have  been  collecting  in  my  diocese 
without  leave,"  and  as  I  looked  incredulous,  he 
continued,  with  an  air  of  triumph.  "There  is  no 
doubt  of  it,  a  priest  of  your  own  diocese  reported 
it  to  me."  Now  I  knew  that  a  great  many  of  the 
priests  of  Newark  diocese  were  very  angry  with 
their  bishop  for  receiving  us,  as  they  had  said 
so  openly,  and  sometimes  very  rudely  to  myself 
and  this  for  very  different  reasons.  Those  who 
are  not  acquainted  with  the  inside  history  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  church,  and  imagine  that  there 
is  a  dead  level  of  harmony  and  peace,  or  a  peren- 
nial fountain  of  mutual  Christian  charity,  ever 
flowing,  are  sadly  mistaken. 

I  have  heard  bishops  spoken  of  by  their  priests 
in  the  most  contemptuous  terms,  who  the  next 
moment  would  sign  a  document  pouring  forth  the 
most  extravagant  laudations  on  the  object  of  their 
contempt.  It  is  true  that  these  priests  justify  this 
double  dealing  by  the  necessity  of  the  case ;  the 
bishop  requires  the  address,  it  must  be  presented, 
and  it  would  be  very  difficult  for  any  priest  to 
refuse  his  signature.  But  all  this  deception,  no 


468 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


matter  how  it  may  be  justified  by  a  painful  neces- 
sity, must  deteriorate  the  general  character  of  the 
priesthood.  Hence  comes  a  spirit  of  espionage 
and  petty  tale-bearing,  that  is  as  unmanly  as  it  is 
unchristian.  If  a  priest  wants  to  annoy  his 
bishop  he  finds  a  ready  means  of  doing  so  by 
carrying  tales  to  some  other  bishop.  And  so 
it  was  in  this  case,  the  tale-bearer,  it  was  said, 
had  aspired  to  the  mitre  himself,  so  any  act  of  his 
bishop  that  could  be  blamed  was  availed  of,  and 
the  fact  of  our  being  tolerated  in  the  diocese  was 
an  offence  because  it  was  the  act  of  a  bishop  who 
was  disliked.  But  it  was  an  offence  on  another 
account.  Readers  of  history  need  not  be  told 
how  little  some  of  the  religious  orders  in  the 
Roman  church  loved  one  another.  How,  instead 
of  a  holy  rivalry  who  should  do  the  most  for  God 
and  souls,  there  was  too  often  a  very  human  con- 
tention, who  should  succeed  most  in  a  worldly 
point  of  view.  This  tale-bearing  priest  had  con- 
nections with  a  religious  order  in  the  diocese,  and 
took  it  into  his  head,  as  only  a  priest  can,  that  we 
would  be  rivals  to  these  sisters,  hence  he  had  two 
good  reasons  for  doing  us  all  the  injury  he  could. 

I  replied  to  Archbishop  Corrigan  that  I  would 
inquire  into  this  charge,  that  though  we  were 
working  for  his  grace's  own  interests,  as  most  of 
the  girls  who  came  to  us  were  from  New  York,  we 


"MERELY  A    TOLERATION." 


469 


were  very  careful  not  to  ask  for,  or  make  collec- 
tions in  his  diocese ;  that  I  had  been  so  ill  I  had 
not  been  able  to  see  to  these  matters  myself. 
The  archbishop  then  said,  with  apparent  candor, 
that  if  I  knew  of  any  sisters  who  were  collecting 
in  his  diocese  without  leave  he  would  at  once  stop 
them  if  I  informed  him  of  it.  I  replied  at  once, 
emphatically,  "  Your  grace  may  rest  assured  that 
if  I  do  hear  of  sisters  who  are  collecting  7  shall 
not  inform  your  grace,"  I  am  not  sure,  but  I  think 
I  heard  him  say  softly  to  himself  ;  "No  I  do  not 
think  you.  would  do  it." 

As  I  knew  it  was  no  use  to  pursue  this  subject 
further,  I  drew  his  grace's  attention  to  the  authori- 
zation of  our  Order  of  Sisters  of  Peace  which  I 
had  brought  with  me,  I  handed  it  to  him  and 
called  his  attention  to  the  plain  and  explicit 
nature  of  the  document.  To  my  surprise,  he 
threw  it  contemptuously  on  the  table,  and  said  : 
"  Oh  I  have  seen  this  before,  it  is  merely  a  tolera- 
tion." "  Well,"  I  replied,  "  as  the  Holy  Father  has 
tolerated  me,  I  wish  your  grace  would  tolerate  me." 
The  archbishop  looked  very  much  annoyed,  and 
after  a  silence  of  a  few  moments,  which  I  did  not 
care  to  break,  he  said  very  abruptly,  "  have  you  a 
convent  in  Rome?"  I  replied  that  we  had  not; 
one  of  the  cardinals  had  spoken  to  me  on  the  sub- 
ject, saying  that  girls  needed  training  there,  as 


470 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


much  as  anywhere  else,  for  domestic  service.  He 
replied  in  a  very  annoyed  tone,  "  Well,  when  you 
are  allowed  to  have  a  convent  in  Rome,  I  will  allow 
you  to  have  one  in  New  York."  I  felt  this  was  a 
very  disingenuous  way  of  evading  a  very  serious 
question,  and  rose  to  take  my  leave.  But  before  I 
did  so  the  archbishop  took  care  to  tell  me  that  he 
wished  never  to  see  me  again,  and  requested  I 
would  keep  out  of  his  diocese.  A  poor  compli- 
ment to  the  Holy  Father,  who  had  treated  me  so 
differently  in  Rome.* 

*  On  my  return  to  the  sisters,  I  asked  them  if  they  knew  if  the 
archbishop  had  any  cause  for  his  accusation  that  they  had  col- 
lected in  his  diocese.  They  told  me  that  a  few  days  before,  a  sis- 
ter had  been  collecting  in  some  place  in  our  own  diocese,  and  had 
crossed  over  the  street  and  continued  collecting  on  the  other  side, 
not  knowing  that  it  was  in  Archbishop  Corrigan's  diocese.  The 

sister  was  promptly  followed  by  Mgr  S n,  a  priest  who  had 

been  very  much  annoyed,  because  we  had  been  received  into  the 
Newark  diocese.  Although  he  ought  to  have  had  the  instincts  of 
a  gentleman,  he  attacked  this  poor  sister  in  the  rudest  way,  but 
perhaps  he  was  only  rude  to  her  because  she  was  a  sister,  and 
ordered  her  about  her  business,  saying  he  would  report  the  mat- 
ter to  Archbishop  Corrigan,  and  evidently  he  was  very  prompt  in 
carrying  out  his  intention.  The  poor  sister,  who  was  young  and 
timid,  was  very  much  frightened  by  his  violence. 

It  may  not  be  generally  known  that  priests  do  not  allow  Roman 
Catholics  to  give  money  as  they  please.  Hence  it  is  that  when  a 
priest  or  bishop  wants  contributions  for  a  purpose  of  his  own,  he 
can  easily  secure  such  immense  sums  of  money.  This  is  espe- 
cially done  in  the  case  of  the  poor,  who  are  obliged  to  give,  or  not 
to  give,  just  as  the  priest  pleases.  The  confessional  is  very  much 
used  for  this  purpose.  But  it  is  often  done  publicly,  as  a  priest 


ROME  AND  NEW   YORK  DIFFER. 


471 


will  forbid  his  people,  even  from  the  altar,  to  give  to  a  charity  he 
does  not  like. 

I  have  often  heard  very  devout  Roman  Catholics  complain  of 
this,  and  especially  working  girls,  who  said  they  had  earned  their 
money  very  hard,  and  that  they  thought  they  had  a  right  to  do 
what  they  liked  with  it ;  above  all,  when  they  had  given  the  priest 
all  they  could  spare  for  himself.  Even  the  circulation  of  Roman 
Catholic  books  is  discouraged  very  often  by  priests,  because  they 
think  that  if  girls  spend  money  on  books  they  will  have  less  to 
give  them.  It  would  be  impossible  to  get  a  Roman  Catholic 
priest  to  see  from  how  many  points  of  view  this  is  a  mistaken 
policy,  even  for  the  cause  it  is  supposed  to  benefit. 

Soon  after  I  came  to  America,  a  priest  in  New  York  was  very 
anxious  to  help  me,  and  wished  to  do  something  for  us  on  St. 
Patrick's  Day.  He  thought,  naturally,  that  the  archbishop  would 
not  object  to  a  work  approved  by  the  pope.  He  sent  me  a  de- 
spatch, which  I  still  have,  telling  me  to  send  him  ten  thousand 
circulars  for  distribution.  But  before  his  benevolent  plans  were 
carried  into  execution  they  were  peremptorily  stopped,  and  he  was 
threatened  with  prompt  ecclesiastical  penalties  if  he  attempted  to 
assist  me  in  any  way.  Clearly,  Rome  and  New  York  differ  on 
some  important  points.  I  may  say  here  that  all  these  things  be- 
came more  or  less  generally  known,  and  of  course  were,  as  they 
were  intended  to  be,  an  effectual  hindrance  to  the  success  of  our 
work.  There  are  not  many  who  could  dare  to  brave  ecclesiasti- 
cal displeasure. 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 

CONCLUDING  SCENES. 

The  End  of  All  —  Other  Sisters  Deprived  — Case  of  Miss  K.—  The  Girls' 
Home  in  Baltimore  — Visit  to  the  South  —  Insolence  of  a  Southern 
Bishop  —  Application  to  Archbishop  Keane  —  Contrasted  Letter 
from  Archbishop  Bagshawe  and  Archbishop  Keane. 

I  HAVE  but  a  few  words  to  say  in  conclusion. 
After  my  interview  with  Archbishop  Corrigan, 
recorded  above,  in  which  I  saw  that  neither  the 
Holy  Father's  authority  nor  the  statement  of  Prop- 
aganda would  have  the  slightest  weight  with  him  ; 
and  when  he  had  told  me  in  plain  terms  he  would 
never  allow  me  in  his  diocese,  and  never  wished 
to  see  me  again  ;  I  knew  that  as  far  as  I  was  con- 
cerned, at  least  in  his  lifetime,  there  was  no  hope 
for  the  extension  of  our  work  in  America  so  long- 
as  I  was  connected  with  it.  My  health  had  com- 
pletely broken  down.  I  had  no  heart  to  continue 
useless  efforts  any  longer.  As  for  a  sister  leaving 
a  convent,  unless  she  left  it  in  such  a  way  as  to 
attract  public  attention,  the  bishops  care  very 
little.  I  was  simply  amazed,  soon  after  I  came  to 
America,  at  the  number  of  sisters  and  priests  who 
called  upon  me  who  had  been  deprived  of  their 
religious  positions  from  one  cause  or  other.  I 

472 


MISS  K 'S  CASE, 


473 


also  heard  from  sisters  of  many  different  orders 
how  convents  had  been  broken  up  at  the  mere 
caprice  of  a  priest  or  bishop,  no  matter  how  long 
they  had  been  established. 

These  sisters,  being  for  the  most  part  of  the 
middle  class,  and  being  in  good  health,  were  able 
to  get  a  living  for  themselves,  and  are  often  em- 
ployed as  servants  in  families  who  never  have  the 
least  idea  of  their  previous  history.  Of  late  years 
I  believe  the  American  bishops  do  not  allow  the 
sisters  to  make  vows  for  more  than  a  year,  so  that 
they  can  be  sent  away  at  convenience.  Certainly, 
this  is  all  opposed  to  the  just  idea  of  a  sister's  life. 

I  have  already  mentioned  the  case  of  a  sister 
who  was  received  into  our  home  under  very  pain- 
ful circumstances.  Another  case  was  that  of  a 
Miss  K ,  who  had  been  for  many  years  a  sis- 
ter in  the  Order  of  the  Visitation  in  the  diocese 
of  Archbishop  Keane,  director  of  the  new  Catholic 
University.  This  lady  told  me  she  was  dismissed 
after  many  years  of  profession,  without  any  word 
or  notice,  and,  sent  to  make  her  way  in  the  world 
as  best  she  could.  I  gave  her  some  employment 
and  helped  her  for  a  time.  She  was  a  clever,  edu- 
cated lady. 

The  case  of  these  poor  sisters  is  very  sad. 
They  have  been  many  years  living  a  secluded 
life,  their  home  ties  are  already  broken,  and  even 


474  *##  AfCW  0^  fCENMARE. 

their  friends  generally  look  upon  them  as  a  burden 
and  a  disgrace,  without  stopping  to  think  that 
they  have  too  often  been  the  victims  of  painful 
circumstances. 

In  one  case  only  I  have  found  a  sister  provided 
for  and  that  was  in  Baltimore.  The  Girls'  Home 
there,  under  the  auspices  of  Cardinal  Gibbons, 
was  in  charge  of  a  person  who  had  been  for 
twenty  years  a  professed  sister  in  the  Order  of 
the  Sisters  of  Charity,  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul, 
and  who  left  the  order.  I  could  not,  however, 
but  feel  that  Cardinal  Gibbons  showed  great  in- 
difference to  change  of  religious  views  when  he 
preferred  having  her  in  charge  rather  than  to 
have  it  in  charge  of  sisters.  Still  this  is  not  very 
encouraging  to  those  who  try  to  persevere. 

The  heart  trouble  which  developed  soon  after  I 
came  to  America  became  so  serious,  and  my  state 
of  health  was  such,  that  the  doctor  ordered  me  a 
winter  in  the  South,  as  the  only  hope  of  my  life. 
I  did  this  at  the  urgent  entreaty  of  the  sisters,  and 
with  the  permission  of  my  bishop. 

I  went  as  far  South  as  Augusta,  Georgia,  and  I 
found  there  a  warm  welcome  from  the  Irish  and 
the  descendants  of  the  Irish.  But  there  was  still 
the  same  Episcopal  detraction  and  determination 
not  to  allow  me  to  carry  on  the  work  which  was  so 
dear  to  me.  An  earnest  petition  was  sent  in  to 


OLD  STORIES   CIRCULATED. 


475 


a  Southern  bishop,  signed  by  the  mayor  and  all 
the  leading  gentlemen  of  the  town,  asking  him  to 
allow  the  establishment  of  a  house  of  our  Order. 
But  he  treated  the  gentlemen  and  the  petition 
with  silent  contempt,  and  sent  me  a  most  insolent 
message  through  a  priest. 

I  need  only  say  that  I  became  more  and  more 
hopeless  and  depressed.  On'  my  return  in  the 
spring,  I  saw  an  eminent  physician  in  Philadel- 
phia. I  was  obliged  to  travel  very  slowly,  and 
had  to  stop  there  on  my  way.  He  gave  me  a 
written  certification  that  if  I  did  not  at  once  dis- 
continue work,  and  if  I  was  not  free  from  all 
trouble  and  anxiety,  that  the  heart  disease  which 
is  at  present  only  functional,  would  very  quickly 
develop  into  organic  trouble. 

About  this,  however,  I  would  not  have  con- 
cerned myself,  as  I  should  only  be  too  glad  to  die 
working  for  the  poor ;  but  I  could  not  fail  to  see 
that  my  connection  with  the  Order  was  an 
obstacle,  and  perhaps  the  only  hindrance  to  its 
success.  I,  therefore,  decided  on  withdrawing 
altogether  as  soon  as  possible. 

While  travelling,  I  tried  to  keep  as  quiet  as  pos- 
sible and  to  avoid  seeing  people.  Still,  the  old 
stories  were  circulated  that  I  was  fond  of  change, 
and  yet  there  is  nothing  I  dislike  more.  I  know 
that  sisters  in  America  are  constantly  going  from 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

one  place  to  the  other  for  health  or  other  reasons. 
While  I  was  in  the  South,  a  Sister  of  Mercy  who 
had  become  enervated  by  the  Southern  climate 
was  staying  in  New  York  with  her  brother  for 
the  winter.  At  Atlantic  City,  I  found  another 
sister  of  her  Order  stopping  at  one  of  the  large 
public  hotels  there  for  her  health.  It  seemed 
that  only  in  my  case  these  things  were  spoken  of 
as  wrong. 

At  this  time  the  sisters  made  one  last  effort  to 
get  the  American  bishops  to  contradict  the  reports 
which  they  had  been  circulating  against  me.  Their 
appeal  was  made  to  Bishop  Keane  under  the  fol- 
lowing circumstances. 

When  I  was  seriously  ill  in  Washington,  some 
years  before,  a  gentleman  who  was  very  intimate 
with  this  bishop,  and  who  knew  that  he  was  to  be 
the  head  of  the  new  Catholic  university,  thinking 
that  he  was  one  who  would  show  kindness  to  any 
person  in  trouble,  wrote  to  him  and  told  him  that 
he  must  know  those  charges  against  me  ft>  be 
false ;  he  pointed  out  to  him  the  injury  such 
reports  must  do  to  religion,  and  the  discredit 
they  bring  on  the  Holy  Father.  I  do  not  wish  to 
judge  Bishop  Keane  uncharitably,  but  I  fear  he 
had  every  opportunity  of  knowing  that  the  state- 
ments he  made  about  me  were  false. 

I    append    his    letter  and  one   received   from 


LETTER  FROM  BISHOP  BAGSHAWE. 


Bishop  Bagshawe,  almost  on  the  same  date, 
though  it  has  been  given  before. 

"  ST.  BARNABAS'  CATHEDRAL,  NOTTINGHAM, 
"  May  17,  1886. 

"  MY  DEAR  REV.  MOTHER,  —  I  have  just  heard 
with  great  sorrow,  that  you  are  so  seriously  ill, 
and  can  only  hope  that  by  this  time  your  health 
may  have  improved.  May  God  grant  it  and  spare 
you  long  to  carry  on  the  great  work  you  have 
begun. 

Your  convents  in  this  diocese  are  well  and 
securely  founded,  but  they  could  ill  afford  to  lose 
you. 

I  write  to  assure  you  of  my  sympathy  and  pray- 
ers, and  entreating  God  to  bless  you, 
"  Remain  yours  most  truly, 

"  EDWARD,  Bishop  of  Nottingham. 

"  To  SISTER  M.  FRANCIS  CLARE  Mother-General  of  the  Sisters  of 
Peace." 

"  ST.  PETER'S  CATHEDRAL,  RICHMOND,  VA., 
"May  27,  1886. 

"My  DEAR  DR.  M ,  I  feel  very  deeply  for 

the  poor  Nun  of  Kenmare,  but  am  sorry  it  is  not 
in  my  power  to  be  of  aid  or  comfort  to  her.  Her 
many  plans  which  carry  her  from  one  part  of  the 
world  to  another,  and  in  which  she  cannot  hope 
for  sympathy  and  co-operation  amongst  the  hier- 
archy, lie  at  the  bottom  of  her  mental  troubles. 

I  could  be  of  no  use  to  her  whatever ;  nor  any 


478  THE   NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

one,  nor  anything,  till  she  is  quietly  back  in  her 
place,  her  convent  in  Ireland. 

"  With  sincere  best  wishes, 
"  Yours  truly  in  Christ, 

"JOHN  J.  KEANE." 

The  sisters  wrote  to  Bishop  Keane  thinking,  as 
he  was  to  take  the  exalted  and  responsible  office  of 
being  the  future  teacher  and  model  of  American 
ecclesiastics  and  gentlemen,  he  would  be  zealous 
for  the  honor  of  the  church,  that  he  would  not 
like  to  place  himself  in  a  false  position,  and  that 
he  needed  only  to  know  the  facts  in  order  to  do 
justice  to  him  and  myself.  He  knew  that  I  had 
no  convent  in  Ireland  and  therefore  I  could  not 
comply  with  the  desire  of  the  American  bishops 
to  go  there ;  but  Bishop  Keane  has  not  made  any 
reparation,  either  in  public  or  private,  and  his 
charges  against  me  still  stand  uncontradicted. 

"  CONVENT  OF  THE  SISTERS  OF  PEACE, 

JERSEY  CITY,  N.  J. 

"Mv  LORD,  —  Our  Mother  General,  most  generally 
known  as  the  Nun  of  Kenmare,  was  sent  by  our  bishop, 
the  Right  Rev.  W.  M.  Wigger,  to  Baltimore  and  other 
places  South,  in  March,  1886,  for  the  purpose  of  seeing 
several  bishops,  partly  to  try  and  interest  them  in  the 
establishment  of  a  home  for  the  Catholic  blind,  and 
partly  hoping  that,  by  a  personal  interview,  she  might 
be  able  to  satisfy  them,  by  the  documents  which  she 
brought  with  her  from  Rome,  that  the  many  and  cruel 


APPEAL    TO  BISHOP  KEANE. 


479 


slanders  which  have  been  circulated  about  her  were 
not  only  false,  but  absolutely  without  any  foundation 
whatever,  and  were  originated  by  persons  who  dislike 
her  great  zeal  for  souls,  and  her  wonderful  energy  in 
good  works. 

"  In  this  mission  she  failed,  not  from  want  of  proof 
of  the  divine  character  of  her  mission,  and  of  the  full 
approval  of  it  by  the  Holy  See,  but  because  the  eccle- 
siastics to  whom  she  applied  preferred  to  believe 
scandals  which  did  not  exist,  and  would  not  accept  the 
denial  of  them  by  the  Holy  Father  and  Propaganda. 

"  Now,  my  lord,  you  were  one  of  the  bishops  who 
has  not  only  spoken  but  written  what  is  most  scanda- 
lous and  calumnious  of  our  beloved  superior,  and  we 
have  the  evidence  in  your  own  handwriting.  You, 
with  others,  have  helped  to  deprive  the  Catholic  church 
of  the  services,  and  to  break  the  loving  and  tender 
heart  of  one  of  the  truest  and  most  devoted  of  God's 
spouses. 

"  We  understand  that  your  lordship  is  advanced  to  a 
most  distinguished  position  in  the  Catholic  church  of 
America,  a  position  which  places  in  your  hands  the 
future  of  the  Catholic  church  of  America.  As  you  will 
have  the  formation  of  the  characters  of  the  future 
priests,  we  suppose  that  you  will  teach  them  that  justice 
to  poor  as  well  as  to  rich,  and  that  reparation  for  wrong 
clone,  is  as  much  the  duty  of  the  priest  as  of  the  layman. 

"  I  inclose  a  copy  of  your  letter  in  which  you  have 
brought  these  scandalous  charges  against  our  superior. 
Your  present  position  makes  it  most  important,  both 
for  yourself  and  for  us,  that  they  should  be  fully  and 
publicly  retracted.  I  may  add  that  the  circulation  of 


480  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

such  scandals  about  our  superior  is  also  a  grave  injury  to 
the  Holy  Father,  as  people  naturally  ask,  how  is  it  that 
this  sister  is  so  spoken  of  by  ecclesiastics  when  the  Holy 
Father  has  granted  to  her  the  extraordinary  favor  of 
being  foundress  of  our  new  order?  Why  should  an 
American  bishop  demand  that '  she  should  go  back  to  her 
convent  in  Ireland,'  when  the  Holy  Father  has  author- 
ized her  to  leave  it  for  a  new  and  most  important  work  ? 
Why  should  she  be  treated  with  suspicion  and  contempt 
when  Propaganda  has  officially  declared  that  '  she  is 
worthy  of  the  trust  and  confidence  of  all  who  may 
place  themselves  under  her  guidance? '  The  original  of 
this  document  is  in  the  possession  of  our  English  ec- 
clesiastical superior,  the  Right  Rev.  G.  W.  Bagshawe, 
of  Nottingham.  What  are  her  '  many  plans  ? '  We 
who  have  been  her  spiritual  children  for  years,  are 
aware  of  only  one  plan,  it  has  been  to  work  for  God's 
poor.  When  and  where  has  she  ever  failed  in  obedience 
to  ecclesiastical  authority  ?  It  is  easy  to  invent  and  cir- 
culate reports,  but  a  time  may  come  when  something 
more  than  an  assertion  will  be  demanded  from  those 
who  speak  such  reports.  Suppose  that  the  whole 
miserable  story  of  our  Mother's  treatment  by  ecclesias- 
tics in  America  were  put  before  the  public,  and  your 
lordship  will  be  pleased  to  remember  we  have  written 
proof,  what  would  be  said  ?  Are  priests  in  this  new 
Catholic  university  to  be  educated  to  be  honest  men,  or 
as  men  who  will  not  pay  ordinary  respect  to  truth  and 
justice  and  to  the  decisions  of  the  Holy  See  ?  When 
did  our  Mother  go  '  from  one  part  of  the  world  to 
another '  without  the  permission  of  her  bishop  ?  Even 
this  Fall,  when  several  eminent  doctors  declared  her 


LETTER   TO  BISHOP  KEANE,  481 

life  depended  on  her  spending  the  winter  in  the  South, 
it  was  with  great  difficulty  that  we  could  induce  her  to 
go,  and  it  was  only  when  our  bishop  said  that  he  wished 
her  to  do  so,  that  she  consented. 

"  Your  lordship  would  not  have  been  troubled  with 
this  letter,  but  we  feel  the  time  has  come  when  it  is 
our  duty  to  claim  recognition  and  respect  for  the  Holy 
Father's  decision.  Why  should  your  lordship  or  other 
American  bishops  refuse  our  mother  '  sympathy  ? ' 
Surely,  you  should  have  the  deepest  sympathy  for 
one  who  has  so  long  suffered  in  silence  when  she 
might,  at  any  moment,  clear  herself  of  all  blame  by 
publishing  the  documents  in  her  possession  when  she 
has  refrained  from  doing  so  simply  because  the  public 
discredit  would  fall,  and  fall  justly,  on  those  very  eccle- 
siastics who  have  cared  so  little  for  her  unmerited  suffer- 
ings, and  why  should  it  not  ?  Within  the  last  two  years 
we  have  been  offered  ten  good  foundations  by  priests  in 
different  parts  of  America,  and  their  respective  bishops 
have  at  once  refused  to  allow  our  order  to  spread,  influ- 
enced by  false  reports  such  as  those  in  your  letter. 
Protestants  are  amazed  when  they  find  this  to  be  the 
case.  Protestant  institutions,  seaside  homes  etc,  are 
being  established  all  over  the  country  for  working-girls, 
and  even  in  the  very  places  where  we  have  been  refused 
permission  to  establish  homes  blest  by  the  Holy  Father. 
These  homes  are  filled  with  and  supported  by  Catholic 
girls,  as  we  can  prove. 

"We  are  well  aware  that  there  is  in  America  one 
ecclesiastic  whose  prejudices  against  our  mother-gen- 
eral are  so  strong  that  even  the  benediction  and  au- 
thority of  the  Holy  Father  has  no  weight  with  him,  and 


482 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


it  would  be  amusing  if  it  was  not  very  sad  to  see  how 
some  Catholic  authorities  make  so  much  of  the  least 
word  from  Rome  when  it  is  in  their  favor,  and  treat 
with  utter  contempt  such  as  are  against  their  preju- 
dices, but  is  this  true  loyalty  to  the  Holy  See  ?  This  ec- 
clesiastic has,  we  know,  considerable  power  over  all  the 
other  bishops,  but,  my  lord,  surely  each  bishop  has  a 
conscience  of  his  own  and  a  duty  of  his  own  to  the 
Holy  See. 

"  We  shall  be  most  happy,  with  the  permission  of  our 
bishop,  to  go  to  Washington  and  bring  the  original  doc- 
ument of  the  Holy  Father's  founding  our  order,  for  the 
information  of  the  bishops  assembled  at  the  laying  the 
foundation  of  the  Catholic  university. 

"  We  can  ourselves,  or  any  other  of  our  sisters  who 
are  long  professed  under  our  dear  mother's  care,  give 
personal  evidence  as  to  the  good  she  has  done  for 
souls  and  the  forbearance  with  which  she  has  borne 
persistent  calumny. 

"  We  trust  for  the  sake  of  the  Catholic  faith,  and  for 
your  lordship's  own  easement  of  conscience,  that  you 
will  obtain  from  all  the  bishops  a  public  denial  of  the 
charges  made  against  her.      I  am,  my  lord, 
"  Yours  very  respectfully, 

"MOTHER  M.  EVANGELISTA, 

"  Mother  Provincial. 
"  SISTER  M.  IGNATIUS, 

"  Local  Superior." 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE  END. 

A  Weary  Task  —  No  Justice  to  be  Had  —  Church  Regulations  —  An 
Easily  Offended  Priest — A  New  Libel  Manufactured  —  An  Adven- 
turess and  a  Thief  —  Father  C n  as  Protector  —  Other  Misrepre- 
sentations. 

I  WONDER  if  my  readers  are  as  weary  of  reading 
as  I  am  of  writing  all  this.  I  have  a  duty  to  God, 
to  the  church,  and  above  all,  to  those  who  have 
confided  their  alms  to  me  so  often  and  so  gener- 
ously. I  know  that  they  have  a  right  to  be  told 
why  I  have  been  unable  to  carry  out  a  work  so 
necessary  for  the  poor,  and  for  working  girls. 

It  has  certainly  taken  me  a  very  long  time  to 
realize  that  there  was  no  justice  for  me,  and  no 
use  in  persevering,  but  I  have  realized  it  at  last. 
I  have  before  me  now  a  letter  from  a  gentleman 
in  New  York  to  whom  I  showed  some  letters  re- 
ferred to  in  this  book.  He  says  :  — 

"  I  now  understand  your  position  as  I  did  not 
before.  Truly,  you  have  had  to  contend  with  a  lot 
of  scoundrels  in  the  guise  of  priests  and  bishops 
and.  all  the  rest  of  it.  It  is  a  very  fortunate  thing 
for  me  that  I  am  not  a  Catholic.  J  think  if  I 
483 


484 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


belonged  to  a  religious  order  and  had  such  infernal 
treatment.  I  should  be  an  apostle  of  rebellion  or 
reformation,  or  something  else  rather  aggressive, 
in  a  very  short  space  of  time.  I  don't  know  much 
about  the  laws  of  your  church,  and  just  how  much 
deviltry  a  sister  has  got  to  submit  to  without  a 
murmur  or  a  protest ;  but  it  does  seem  to  me  that 
on  general  principles  of  common  sense,  such  treat- 
ment is  from  the  devil,  and  cannot  borrow  any 
sanctity  by  presenting  itself  in  an  ecclesiastical 
robe." 

There  is  one  point  which  I  wish  to  make  very 
clear,  as  I  know  that  allusion  to  it  will  be  the  only 
defence  which  can  be  made  by  those  who  have  op- 
posed the  designs  of  the  Holy  Father,  in  pro- 
hibiting my  extending  the  order  of  the  Sisters  of 
Peace. 

The  regulations  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church 
with  regard  to  sisters  are  very  clear  and  very 
necessary.  No  religious  houses  or  convents  can 
be  founded  in  any  diocese  without  the  consent  of 
the  bishop  of  that  diocese.  Of  this,  I  of  course, 
was  well  aware  ;  but  it  is  one  thing  for  a  bishop  to 
have  a  certain  power  to  do  a  certain  thing ;  the 
way  in'  which  he  exercises  that  power  is  quite 
another  matter.  • 

Again,  even  the  power  which  the  pope  gave  me 
to  found  a  religious  order  and  to  do  a  certain  work 


CHURCH  REGULATIONS.  485 

does  not  authorize  me  to  intrude  that  work  in  any 
diocese  without  the  further  permission  of  the 
bishop,  nor  does  it  in  any  way  oblige  a  bishop  to 
receive  me  to  work  in  his  diocese.  I  know  this 
will  be  the  excuse,  if  indeed  any  defence  is  made, 
or  any  explanation  given  of  what  I  am  stating  in 
this  book. 

But  nothing  can  justify  a  bishop  in  persisting  in 
false  accusations,  and  respect  to  the  Holy  Father 
should  make  him  receive  with  courtesy  a  sister 
who  had  been  approved  by  him. 

I  have  shown,  however,  that  bishops  who  had 
been  willing  to  receive  me  have  been  prevented 
from  doing  so  by  others,  so  that  it  cannot  be  said 
that  I  was  trying  to  intrude  myself  into  their  dio- 
ceses against  their  wish.  Further,  if  a  bishop 
believed  that  I  was  likely  to  be  troublesome  to 
him,  or  to  quarrel  with  his  priests,  etc.  (I  know 
that  I  have  been  accused  of  doing  so),  could  he 
not  very  easily  find  out  whether  I  had  been  the 
person  in  fault  in  such  a  case,  or  the  priest  ? 

In  every  case  where  I  had  trouble  with  bishops 
or  priests,  I  have  shown  clearly  that  the  trouble 
came  from  them,  and  was  caused  by  them.  I  have 
shown  also,  that  I  made  the  most  earnest  efforts 
to  conciliate  them,  and  to  comply  with  all  their 
wishes.  Why,  then,  should  I  be  blamed  for  the 
fault  of  others  ? 


486 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


I  now  give  another  case  in  point,  which  will 
show  how  I  was  falsely  accused  of  disagreeing 
with  a  priest,  when  on  the  contrary  he  had  treated 
me  in  a  very  discreditable  manner. 

This   priest,    the   Rev.    C n,   asked   me   to 

establish  a  summer  home  for  girls  in  his  parish.  I 
gladly  agreed  and  obtained  the  consent  of  our 
bishop.  I  rented  a  house  from  a  New  York  gen- 
tleman, a  Roman  Catholic  and  a  lawyer.  I  believe 
he  and  his  family  had  had  a  very  unpleasant  ex- 
perience with  this  same  priest,  but  as  they  were 
not  in  his  power,  as  I  was,  they  came  off  victors. 
When  I  went  with  this  priest  to  see  the  place,  we 
found  some  grass  ready  for  mowing.  I  thought 
how  useful  this  would  be  for  our  cow,  when  Father 

C n  turned  to  me  and  said  he  wanted  the  grass 

for  himself.  I  certainly  did  think  this  very  selfish, 
but  I  expected  nothing  else  from  persons  of  his 
class,  and,  in  fact,  I  was  used  to  nothing  else.  I 
was,  however,  very  willing  to  do  anything  or  give 
anything  that  would  please  him,  and  I  said 
certainly  he  should  have  it. 

The  next  day,  to  my  great  surprise,  I  got  an 
indignant  letter  from  him  by  post  to  say  he  could 
not  prevent  my  coming  to  his  parish,  because  I 
had  signed  the  lease  for  this  house,  but  I  must 
understand  that  he  would  have  nothing  to  do  with 
us,  and  that  he  would  not  come  near  the  house  while 


THE   CARETAKER'S  COMPLAINT.  487 

we  were  there.  All  this  angry  feeling  was  caused 
by  a  woman  who  was  caretaker  of  the  place,  and 
who  told  him  I  did  not  wish  to  give  him  the  grass. 
It  is  difficult  to  understand  how  a  man  could  be  so 
easily  deceived  and  so  easily  offended.  The  poor 
priest  actually  went  to  the  bishop  with  his  tale, 
but  he  did  not  get  much  consolation. 

The  woman  had  been  caretaking  the  place  so 
long  she  looked  on  it  as  a  permanent  home  for 
herself  and  family,  and  was  very  angry  because  we 
had  rented  it,  and  she  told  me  she  would  bring 
"  all  the  Tipperary  men  in  the  neighborhood  down 
on  me."  I  did  not  mind  this,  but  she  said  then  I 

had  no  right  to  give  the  grass  to  Father  C n, 

it  was  hers,  and  she  had  a  right  to  it  as  caretaker, 
and  she  always  intended  to  give  it  to  him.  This  I 
am  sure  was  not  true,  but  it  answered  her  purpose. 

I  replied,  "  Well,  I  will  write  to  Mr. and  ask 

him  who  has  a  right  to  it.  If  he  says  you  have, 
you  can  do  what  you  like  with  it."  But  I  never 

said  one  word  about  Father  C n  or  not  wishing 

to  give  it  to  him. 

I  had  almost  endless  trouble  about  this  wretched 
bit  of  grass.  I  wrote  the  simple  facts  of  the  case 

to  Father  C n,  and  told  him  why  the  woman 

had  told  him  this  falsehood,  and  indeed  the  grass 
was  not  worth  disputing  about.  It  took  a  long 
time  lo  pacify  him,  but  he  never  forgave  me,  and 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

has  been  my  enemy  ever  since.  He  made  my  life 
and  the  life  of  the  sisters  such  a  misery  to  us,  we 
were  only  too  thankful  to  get  away  from  him. 

But  of  course  it  would  not  have  suited  him  to 
have  the  true  story  known,  so  a  new  libel  was 
manufactured  and  circulated,  and  every  priest  had 
it  in  New  York  and  the  neighboring  towns,  that 
all  the  reports  about  me  were  quite  true,  for  I 
could  not  agree  with  Father  C n. 

It "  was  sad  to  see  a  priest,  who  should  have 
been  above  such  things,  believe  the  word  of  an 
uneducated,  ignorant  woman  in  preference  to  that 
of  a  sister,  but  I  had  already  had  experience  of 
similar  infatuations.  1  suppose  the  kind  of  life 
which  priests  lead  is  the  cause  of  this.  I  had  also 
another  experience  of  the  way  in  which  a  priest 
can  act  who  is  prejudiced  against  a  sister  without 
cause.  Before  I  went  to  open  a  home  for  girls  in 
his  parish,  I  had  received  a  letter  from  a  woman 
who  lived  in  Baltimore,  the  object  of  which  was  to 
be  received  in  our  home  in  Jersey  City.  She  said 
that  she  was  a  Protestant,  but  desired  to  become 
a  Roman  Catholic ;  that  she  had  no  Roman 
Catholic  friends,  and  therefore  could  not  give  me 
any  references. 

I  did  not  know  what  to  do,  but  she  wrote  .again 
and  was  very  importunate.  At  last  I  agreed  to 
let  her  come.  I  took  her  to  the  summer  home  in 


AN  IMPOSTOR.  489 

Father  C n's  parish  after  she  had  been  bap- 
tized and  formally  received  into  the  Roman 
Catholic  church. 

I  soon  began  to  have  some  suspicions  that  she 

was  an  impostor,  but  Father  C n  took  her  up 

warmly.  He  was  lost  in  admiration  of  her  piety 
and  devotion,  and  she  laid  herself  out  to  please 
him.  With  the  cunning  of  her  class,  she  soon  found 
out  his  weak  points,  and  worked  upon  them. 
He  had  a  sore  feeling  against  me  for  what  I  did 
not  do,  and  she  soon  found  that  he  would  not  be 
sorry  to  hear  anything  to  my  disadvantage,  At 
the  same  time  she  made  great  friends  with  a  girl 
whom  we  had  taken  on  trial,  to  try  her  vocation 
for  a  sister's  life.  I  found  this  girl  was  hysterical 
and  quite  unfit  for  our  life,  and  I  intended  to  send 
her  away  quietly.  I  had  warned  her  against  Ada 
Stagg,  as  this  adventuress  called  herself,  and  as  I 
saw  that  my  warnings  were  quite  useless.  I  was 
all  the  more  determined  to  send  her  home.  A 
girl  who  could  have  for  her  chosen  companion  and 
friend,  a  doubtful  character,  against  whom  she  had 
been  warned,  was  clearly  not  fit  for  convent  life. 

I  was  waiting  quietly,  as  one  has  to  do  sometimes 
in  difficult  cases,  when  I  missed  forty  dollars,  and 
had  reason  to  be  tolerably  sure  who  had  taken 
it.  I  went  to  the  priest,  as  I  thought  it  right 
to  warn  him,  no  matter  how  he  might  have  treated 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

me,  and  I  found  she  had  been  giving  him  money, 
a  strange  proceeding  for  a  person  in  her  position 
I  hoped  that  like  a  good  pastor  he  would  help  me 
in  this  difficulty,  and  for  the  sake  of  this  poor 
girl's  soul  would  try  to  advise  her  and  find  out 
the  truth.  But  it  was  the  same  disappointment 
over  again.  He  took  the  part  of  both  the  thief 
and  of  the  girl  who  had  made  herself  the  com- 
panion of  the  thief,  after  all  my  warnings.  He 
believed  all  the  ridiculous  stories  that  she  made 
up,  and  gave  me  many  weeks'  bitter  pain  in  conse- 
quence. 

After  some  little  trouble  I  found  out  the  whole 
story  of  this  unhappy  girl.  Ada  Stagg,  as  she 
called  herself,  was  "  wanted  "  in  quite  a  number 
of  places  for  theft.  She  had  made  a  trade  of  im- 
posing on  sisters.  She  had  gone  to  the  sisters  of 
the  Sacred  Heart  in  Philadelphia,  to  the  sisters  of 
the  Good  Shepherd  in  Baltimore,  and  to  many 
others,  and  told  the  same  story  of  her  desire  to  be 
received  into  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  and  she 
had  so  completely  deceived  these  experienced 
sisters  that  she  had  gone  through  all  the  solemn 
mockery  of  this,  without  even  being  suspected  by 
any  of  them,  until  having  gained  whatever  object 
she  had  in  each  place,  she  disappeared  as  suddenly 
as  she  had  come.  Her  reason  for  making  convents 
the  base  of  her  operations  was,  that  she  knew 


THE   IMPOSTOR   REMOVED. 


491 


the  sisters  would  not  like  to  expose  her,  as  they 
would  have  to  appear  against  her  publicly. 

In  our  case  she  judged  rightly,  for  I  did  not 
want  to  add  to  my  many  troubles  by  exposing  her. 

Father    C ,  however,   saved    me    all    trouble, 

though  in  a  way  which  did  not  do  much  credit  to 
himself.  He  took  her  and  her  friend  under  his 
special  protection,  brought  them  with  a  care 
worthy  of  better  objects,  to  a  convent  in  Newark ; 
placed  them  under  the  special  care  of  the  superior- 
ess, as  victims  of  my  injustice,  and  then  another 
report  was  carefully  and  widely  sent  out,  of  my 
inability  to  agree  with  any  priest ;  and  that  these 
two  "  saintly  "  women  could  not  remain  in  our  in- 
stitution because  our  religious  observances  were 
not  strict  enough  for  them.  I  have  been  very 
careful  in  writing  this  book  to  say  nothing  which 
I  did  not  know  personally  to  be  true.  I  was  edu- 
cated very  strictly  on  the  subject  of  truth,  in  the 
Episcopal  church.  No  doubt  there  must  be  some 
excuse  made  for  Roman  Catholic  bishops  and 
priests  who  have  not  such  strict  views  on  such 
subjects.  The  Roman  Catholic  church  certainly 
teaches  that  calumny  is  a  mortal  sin,  and  that  even 
to  exaggerate  the  faults  which  we  know  another  to 
be  guilty  of  is  a  mortal  sin.  Catholics  also  are 
required  to  make  restitution  when  they  have  been 
guilty  of  calumny ;  but  this,  as  far  as  my  experi- 


492 


THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 


ence  goes,  does  not  seem  to  apply  to  either  priests 
or  bishops. 

I  have  been  careful  in  this  book  to  state  only 
what  I  have  proof  of,  by  the  letters  of  the  per- 
sons concerned ;  and  as  I  cannot  give  documen- 
tary evidence,  I  may  say  that  I  heard,  on  the 
authority  of  a  person  who  told  me  that  he  had 
seen  the  document,  that  this  priest  gave  a  letter 
of  the  highest  recommendation  to  this  unfortunate 
girl,  which  no  doubt  she  is  using  to  her  own 
advantage.  When  I  got  sufficient  evidence  to 
know  who  and  what  she  was,  though  I  did  not 
know  her  whole  career  until  later,  I  tried  to 
reason  with  her,  and  to  convince  her  that  even 
from  a  temporal  point  of  view  she  could  do  better 
and  be  far  happier  if  she  would  try  to  earn  her 
living  honestly.  I  hoped  I  had  made  some  im- 
pression on  her,  she  cried  bitterly  ;  and  knowing 
that  I  knew  the  evil  she  had  told  poor  Father 

C of  me,  all  of  which  he  so  readily  believed, 

she  seemed  touched  to  see  that  I  should  be  so 
anxious  to  help  her. 

Unfortunately  for  the  poor  girl,  she  had  been  so 

built  up  by  Father  C 's  promises  of  help,  and 

his  eager  sympathy  for  her,  in  the  supposed  injus- 
tice with  which  he  thought  I  had  treated  her,  that, 
when  just  at  this  critical  moment,  he  sent  a  mes- 
senger to  take  her  to  the  convent  where  he  had 


ti VS TORY  OF  THE  ADVENTURESS.          493 

arranged  to  place  her  and  her  friend,  she  dried 
her  tears  very  promptly,  assumed  her  old  defiant 
manner  to  me,  and  all  my  hopes  of  her  reformation 
had  to  be  abandoned.  Of  course  she  knew  well 
the  great  value  of  the  letter  which  this  priest  had 
given  her,  and  that  even  if  he  did  find  her  out  later, 
she  would  have  the  letter  to  work  with  all  the 
same.  I  was  told  by  the  same  gentleman  who 
told  me  that  he  had  seen  this  letter,  that  Father 

C n  kept   up   an    active    correspondence  with 

these  two  women,  and  believing  all  they  had  told 
him  of  myself  and  the  sisters,  wrote  of  us  in  a  way 
which  could  not  fail  to  do  us  a  serious  injury. 
When  writing  of  me  he  always  described  me  as 
that  "  ex-nun,"  a  title  which  I  am  afraid  he  knew 
well  I  did  not  deserve,  to  say  nothing  of  the  dis- 
respect to  the  Holy  Father  in  speaking  thus  of  a 
person  to  whom  he  had  given  so  high  a  position  in 
the  church. 

I  do  not  know  what  has  become  of  this  poor 
girl.  The  New  York  detectives  were  after  her  for 
some  time.  She  had  stolen  a  quantity  of  valuable 
clothing  from  the  family  with  whom  she  had  been 
living  in  Baltimore,  all  of  which  she  wore  when 
with  us,  and  told  me  had  been  gifts  from  her 
father,  who  was  dead.  She  had  stolen  a  desk 
from  a  family  with  whom  she  had  lived  as  a 
servant  for  a  short  time  in  Washington,  and  as 


494 


TffE  NUN  OF 


this  desk  contained  family  papers  she  had  no 
difficulty  in  passing  herself  off  as  one  of  this 
family,  and  using  their  name.  Her  appearance 
too  was  in  her  favor,  though  she  could  hardly  read 
or  write.  She  was  born  a  Catholic,  of  Irish  de- 
scent, and  knew  her  religion  well.  In  fact,  when 
the  sisters  began  to  prepare  her  to  be  received 
into  the  church,  we  found  she  had  nothing  to 
learn,  and  the  sisters  in  the  other  convents  where 
she  had  previously  gone  through  the  same  sacri- 
lege of  being  received  into  the  church,  told  me 
they  were  also  surprised  to  find  her  so  well  in- 
structed. But  she  had  always  some  plausible 
excuse  for  everything  that  seemed  questionable. 

It  will  be  seen  from  all  this,  and  the  other  in- 
stances of  my  difficulties  with  priests  who  believed 
every  idle  tale  which  might  be  carried  to  them, 
and  what  was  worse  reported  them  as  being  true 
to  all  their  friends,  that  it  is  no  wonder  if  people 
at  last  began  to  think  that  there  must  be  some- 
thing wrong.  The  evidence  for  the  sisters  would 
not  be  listened  to  by  these  priests.  No  work 
could  be  carried  on  by  any  one  who  was  so  har- 
assed as  I  was  in  this  way. 

Here  is  another  case,  and  this,  with  what  I  have 
told  of  at  Knock,  will  surely  be  sufficient  to  show 
how  these  misrepresentations  arose.  A  priest 
who  had  shown  me  a  great  deal  of  real  kindness, 


THE  END. 


495 


and  who  I  thought  was  one  of  my  best  friends  in 
America,  received  a  few  dollars  for  me  from  a 
friend.  He  wrote  to  me  saying  this,  and  that  he 
inclosed  the  money  for  me  in  the  letter.  The 
money  was  not  in  the  letter,  and  thinking  it  was 
a  mistake,  I  wrote  to  him,  the  same  as  I  would  to 
any  one  else,  saying  he  forgot  to  put  it  in.  A 
storm  of  fury  was  the  result,  all  his  professions 
of  friendship  went  for  nothing.  He  said  I  had 
accused  him  of  being  a  robber,  which  I  certainly 
did  not,  for  it  never  even  crossed  my  mind  that 
he  had  done  anything  but  make  a  mistake.  He 
inclosed  the  money,  and  refused  to  have  any  future 
dealings  with  me.  And  then  he  circulated  another 
story  among  his  priestly  friends,  that  I  quarrelled 
with  every  one,  and,  of  course,  this  only  confirmed 
what  they  had  heard  about  me  before,  and  every 
one  was  ready  to  condemn  me. 


APPENDIX. 


PART    I. 

Papal  Approbations  and  Briefs. 

Dilecta  in  Christo  Filiiz,  MAR^E   FRANCISCO  CLARKE  e 
Sororibus    Santa  Clarce,  Kenmare. 

"  DILECTA  IN  CHRISTA  FILIA,  —  Salutem  et  Apostol- 
icam  Benedictionem.  Gratulamur  tibi,  Dilecta  in 
Christo  Filia,  quod  prolixum  ac  difficile  opus,  cui  vix 
pares  esse  pesse  sexus  tui  vires  videbantur,  ad  exitum 
perduxeris  ea  felicitate,  quae  piorum  ac  doctorum  laudes 
promeruerit.  Nee  gaudemus  tantum  quod  per  scitam 
copiosamque  lucubrationem  hanc  gloriam  promoveris 
insignis  Hiberniae  Apostoli,  Sancti  Patritrii,  pietatem- 
que  fidelium  in  eumdem  succenderis:  sed  etiam  de 
Ecclesia  tota  bene  merueris.  Nam  per  ipsam  descrip- 
tionem  gestorum  tanti  viri,  largita  hominibus  a  Cathol- 
ica  religione  beneficia  subiecisti  oculis  ita,  ut  in  dubium 
revocari  nequeant.  Nee  enim  sola  fidei  lux  occurrit  ab 
ilia  allata,  ad  populum,  qui  sedebat  in  tenebris  et  in 
umbra  mortis,  sed  feri  ac  barbari  mores  ita  simul  refor- 
mati  et  compositi,  ut  insula  istaec,  veluti  in  alium  con- 
versa,  Insula  Sanctorum  appellari  meruerit.  Clerus 
autem  ab  eodem  ubique  constitutes,  una  cum  religione 
ac  pietate  ita  coluit  promovitque  scientiam,  ut  dum  Eu- 
ropa  tota  barbarorum  incursu  vastabatur,  et  opprime- 
batur  ignorantiae  tenebris  tutum  litteris  ac  disciplinis 
perfugium  exhibuerit,  et  confluentem  undique  juven- 
tutem  sic  exceperit  et  excoluerit,  ut  complures  inde 
prodierint  diversarum  nationum  apostoli  innumerique 
viri  sanctitate  et  doctrina  celeberrimi.  Atque  tanti 

497 


498 


APPENDIX. 


viri  donum  Hibernia  debuit  huic  apostolicae  sedi :  et  is 
non  aliam  Hibernis  doctrinam  attulit,  quam  quae  trade- 
batur  ab  eadem  sede,  quaeque  jam  a  christianae  religionis 
exordiis  gentes  superstition!  erroribusque  mancipatas, 
fcedoque  voluptatum  omnium  coeno  demersas,  erexerat, 
caritate  consociaverat,  et  ad  vitas  cultum  hominis  no- 
bilitate  dignum  traduxerat.  Quae  quidem  facta  cum 
calumnias  ignorantiae,  obscurantismi,  *egressus,  quibus 
passim  Ecclesia  et  sancta  haec  sedes  impetuntur,  evi- 
dentissime  refellant ;  vita  certe  Sancti  Patritii  a  te 
concinnata  eo  merito  praestat,  ut  hoc  beneficium  cui- 
que  exhibuerit  eo  praesantius  ac  validius  quod  ultra 
fluat  ab  ipsa  factorum  narratione.  Cum  autem  peren- 
nitatem  fructuum  operis  Sanctissimi  Praesulis  demire- 
mur  in  constantia  tuae  gentis  nulla  unquam  insectatione, 
vi,  machinatione,  calamitate  dejecta  per  tota  secula ; 
non  immerito  confidimus  fore,  ut  per  instauratam  nunc 
a  te  veterum  eventuum  ac  gloriae  memoriam,  piissimus 
hie  populus  studiosius  etiam  incendi  debeat  ad  preclara 
majorum  suorum  vestigia  terenda.  Hunc  certe  suc- 
cessum  ominamur  labori  tuo,  dum  divini  favoris  aus- 
picem,  et  pateruae  Nostae  benevolentiae  pignus,  Apos- 
tolicam  Benedictionem  tibi  et  sororibus  tuis  peramanter 
impertimus. 

"  Datum  Romae  apud  S.  Petrum  die  6  Octobris,  Anno 
1870.  Pontificatus  Nostri  Anno  Vicesimoquinto. 

"Pius  P.  P.  IX." 

[Papal  authorization  of  the  establishment  of  the  Order  of 
the  Sisters  of  Peace  by  Sister  M.  Francis  Clare.~\ 

"At  an  audience  of  His  Holiness,  had  on  the  i8th 
day  of  May,  1884,  our  Most  Holy  Lord  Leo  XIII. ,  by 
Divine  Providence  Pope,  on  the  relation  of  me  the 
undersigned,  Secretary  of  the  Sacred  Congregation  de 
Propaganda  Fide,  considering  the  information  and 
opinion  given  by  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  of  Notting- 
ham, and  by  the  superioress  of  the  congregation  of 
Franciscan  (Poor  Clare)  Sisters,  of  Newry,  Ireland, 


APPENDIX. 


499 


has  graciously  deigned  to  dispense  the  petitioner  (Sis- 
ter M.  Francis  Clare)  concerning  the  vows  pronounced 
by  her  in  the  said  congregation  ;  for  this  end,  however, 
that  she  may  be  able  to  take  vows  anew  in  the  institute 
to  be  founded  by  her  according  to  the  rules  approved 
by  the  Ordinary  of  Nottingham.  All  things  whatsoever 
to  the  contrary  nothwithstanding. 

"Given  at  Rome,  in  the  House  of  the  Sac.  Cong,  de 
Prop.  Fide,  on  the  day  and  year  aforesaid. 

"  Gratuitously  on  every  account. 

(Signed)        "  t  D-  ARCHBISHOP  OF  TYRE, 

"  Secretary." 

[From  the  Osservatore  Romano,  May  24,  1884.     This  is  the  official 
organ  of  His  Holiness  Pope 


"  His  Holiness  received  the  Rev.  Mother  Mary 
Francis  Clare,  an  Irish  nun,  in  private  audience,  who 
came  to  implore  a  special  benediction  for  the  new 
order  of  St.  Joseph's  Sisters  of  Peace,  of  the  Immac- 
ulate Conception,  which  she  has  founded  for  the  very 
important  work  of  preparing  girls  for  domestic  service, 
of  instructing  them  in  any  business  for  which  they  may 
have  a  special  inclination  or  ability  ;  for  providing 
homes  for  young  women  who  work  in  factories  or  other 
establishments,  at  a  distance  from  their  parents  ;  and, 
finally,  for  promoting  the  circulation  of  Catholic  litera- 
ture. 

"  This  distinguished  religieuse  is  the  author  of  many 
learned  and  interesting  works,  amongst  them,  of  'A 
Life  of  St.  Patrick,  Apostle  of  Ireland,'  of  '  A  Life  of 
Pope  Pius  IX.,'  and  many  other  works  which  have 
been  translated  into  French,  German,  and  Italian.  She 
had  the  honor  of  presenting  many  of  these  works  to  the 
Holy  Father,  who  received  them  with  marked  appro- 
bation." 

[From  the  Journal  de  Rome,  May  24,  1884.] 

"The  Rev.  Mother  Mary  Francis  Clare,  foundress 
of  the  Sisters  of  Peace  of  the  Immaculate  Conception 


500 


APPENDIX. 


and  of  St.  Joseph,  has  been  received  to-day  in  special 
audience  by  his  Holiness. 

"  Indefatigable  in  good  works,  and  endowed  with 
remarkable  qualities,  she  is  also  a  distinguished  writer. 
The  Holy  Father  has  highly  praised  her  zeal  and  her 
labors,  and  gave  his  Apostolic  Benediction  to  the 
author. 

"  We  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  again  of  the  dif- 
ferent works  of  this  celebrated  religieuse,  who  has 
deserved  so  much  of  the  church  and  of  humanity." 


[EXTRACTS   FROM   THE   APOSTOLIC   LETTER  OF    POPE 
Pius  IX,  TO  SISTER  M.  FRANCIS  CLARE] 

"  To  our  beloved  daughter  in  Christ,  MARY  FRANCIS  CLARE,  of  the 
Sisters  of  Saint  Clare,  Pius  P.  P.  IX. 

"  BELOVED  DAUGHTER  IN  CHRIST,  —  Health  and 
apostolic  benediction.  We  congratulate  you,  beloved 
daughter  in  Christ,  on  having  completed  a  long  and 
difficult  work  which  seemed  to  be  above  woman's 
strength,  with  a  success  that  has  justly  earned  the 
applause  of  the  wise  and  the  learned.  We  rejoice, 
not  only  that  you  have  promoted  by  this  eloquent  and 
learned  volume  the  glory  of  the  illustrious  Apostle  of 
Ireland,  St.  Patrick,  but  also  because  you  have  de- 
served well  of  the  whole  church ;  for  in  recording  the 
actions  of  so  great  a  man,  you  have  placed  before  the 
eyes  of  the  world  the  benefits  received  through  the 
Catholic  religion  so  clearly,  that  they  can  no  longer  be 
questioned.  We  certainly  augur  this  successful  issue 
from  your  labor ;  and  at  the  same  time  we  impart  to 
you  and  to  your  sisters,  most  lovingly,  the  apostolic 
benediction,  as  an  earnest  of  God's  favor  and  a  pledge 
of  our  good  will. 

"Given  at  Rome,  at  St.  Peter's,  the  6th  October, 
1870,  the  twenty-fifth  year  of  our  pontificate. 

"  Pius  P.  P.  IX." 


APPENDIX. 


501 


APOSTOLIC    BLESSING   OF    HIS    HOLINESS    POPE    LEO   XIII. 
IRISH  COLLEGE,  ROME,  May  29,  1878. 

"  MY  DEAR  SISTER,  —  I  am  happy  to  state  that  MGR. 
KIRBY  presented  to-day  in  my  name,  your  life  of  St. 
Patrick,  St.  Bridget  and  St.  Columbia,  to  His  Holiness, 
who,  in  return,  sends  you  his  thanks  and  his  best  bless- 
ing. His  Holiness  wishes  you  every  success  in  your 
literary  labors,  hoping  that  they  may  be  useful  to  reli- 
gion, and  contribute  to  the  salvation  of  souls. 

"  His  Holiness  was  greatly  pleased  with  the  way  in 
which  the  life  of  St.  Patrick  was  brought  out. 

"Wishing  you  and  all  your  pious  community  every 
blessing,  I  remain,  Yours  faithfully, 

"  t  PAUL,  CARDINAL  CULLEN." 


PART   II. 

Letters  of  Archbishop  Croke  and  others  Endorsing  Sister  Mary  Francis 
Clare's  Conduct,  and  Advising  Publication  of  the  Letters  showing  that 
she  had  the  usual  Canonical  Authorization  for  her  Removal  from 
Kenmare. 

"  THE  PALACE,  THURLES,  February  20,  1882. 

"Mv  DEAR  SISTER  M.  FRANCIS  CLARE,  —  I  have 
been  thinking  of  writing  to  you  ever  since  you  left 
Kenmare,  to  bid  you  God  speed  on  the  lines  of  the 
new  departure,  which,  with  the  blessing  and  full  con- 
currence of  your  friends  and  spiritual  superiors,  you 
have  so  bravely,  and,  as  I  trust,  so  advantageously 
entered  on. 

"  But  as  you  have  been  recalled  to  my  memory  in 
a  special  manner  this  morning,  by  the  receipt  of  your 
'  Cloister  Songs,'  I  do  not  see  that  I  can  with  any 
decency  defer  writing  to  you  any  longer,  if  only  to 
thank  you  for  this  last,  though  not  the  least,  token  of 
your  good  will  towards  myself  personally,  as  well  as  of 
your  unabated  energy  in  the  sacred  cause  of  sound  re- 
ligious and  historic  literature. 

"  It  is,  indeed,  quite  a  puzzle  to  me,  as  it  must  be  to 


502 


APPENDIX. 


thousands  of  your  readers  likewise,  how  you  have 
managed  to  compose  so  many  weighty  and  valuable 
works  on  such  a  variety  of  subjects  as  you  have  dealt 
with,  some  of  them  being  unusually  abstruse  and  even 
complicated ;  and  especially  how  you  succeeded  in 
doing  so,  without  having  laid  yourself  open  to  an> 
serious  charge  of  inaccuracy  in  historic,  or  of  grave 
error  in  theological  matters.  The  more  so,  indeed,  as 
you  have  been  always  understood  to  have  been  most 
faithful,  and  even  assiduous  in  the  discharge  of  the  sub- 
stantial duties  of  your  sacred  calling,  besides  attending 
to  the  supply  and  distribution  of  the  large  funds,  which, 
owing  to  your  great  popularity,  were  from  time  to  time, 
committed  to  you  for  charitable  purposes  by  your 
admirers,  both  in  the  old  and  the  new  world. 

"  As  a  matter  of  course,  and  indeed  as  might  have 
been  anticipated,  so  prominent  a  religious,  so  volumin- 
ous and  varied  a  writer,  and  so  pronounced  a  Hiber- 
nian as  you  are  known  to  be,  could  not  have  always 
escaped  the  sharp  and  even  unfriendly  criticism  of 
literary  or  political  purists,  to  say  nothing  whatever  of 
the  sneers  and  snarling  of  such  men  as  that  Saxon 
cleric  appears  to  be,  who  so  bitterly  assailed  you  the 
other  day  in  the  pages  of  the  Weekly  Register. 

"  But  you  may  abundantly  console  yourself  with  the 
thought  that  your  countrymen  at  large,  and  your  coun- 
trywomen also,  whether  at  home  or  in  exile,  appreciate 
to  the  full  your  great  and  disinterested  labors  in  the 
cause  of  creed  and  country,  and  that  the  name  of  the 
good  and  gifted  "  NUN  OF  KENMARE  "  will  continue  to 
be  what  it  is  to-day,  a  real  household  word,  to  be 
cherished  as  such,  amongst  the  genuine  lovers  of  our 
country  for  many  generations  yet  to  come. 

"  Wishing    you    health,    happiness,    and    success,    I 
remain,  my  dear  Sister  M.  Francis  Clare, 
"  Your  very  faithful  friend, 

"t  T.  W.  CROKE,  Archbishop  of  Cashel" 

"To  SISTER  MARY  FRANCIS  CLARE, 
"Knock,  Ballyhaunis,  Co.  Mayo," 


APPENDIX. 


503 


The  following  letter  is  from  my  confessor,  the  Rev. 
M.  Neligan,  C.  C.,  of  Kenmare,  who  travelled  with 
myself  and  my  secretary,  Miss  Downing,  to  Knock  :  — 

THE  PRESBYTERY,  KENMARE,  March  9,  1882. 

"Mv  VERY  DEAR  SISTER  F.  CLARE:  —  Your  letter 
of  this  morning  simply  astounds  me.  The  calumny 
that  you  left  Kenmare  without  the  proper  permission 
from  your  superiors  is  too  absurd.  Don't  mind ; 
patience  and  resignation  will  right  things. 

"  I  accompanied  you  at  the  request  of  the  Mother 
Abbess  here,  and  with  the  sanction  of  the  bishop,  then 
vicar-cap. 

"When  we  arrived  at  Knock,  Archbishop  Cavanagh 
was  so  enthusiastic  about  your  foundation  there  that  I 
thought  it  quite  unnecessary  to  remain  longer  than  the 
few  days  I  did. 

"  As  well  as  I  remember,  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam 
expressed  himself  similarly  by  letter  to  you.  You 
wrote  to  me  afterwards,  saying  His  Grace's  interview 
at  Tuam  tended  to  the  same  result.  Hence,  things 
being  so,  I  am  simply  bewildered  at  its  being  even 
mooted  that  you  left  Kenmare  without  the  necessary 
permission.  I  repeat  again,  you  had  the  fullest  sanc- 
tion, and  that  from  your  superiors,  to  leave. 

"  You  have  now  thrown  yourself  into  the  good  cause 
at  Knock,  and  that,  together  with  your  many  years  of 
most  valuable  service  here,  and  particularly  your 
splendid  and  successful  efforts  during  the  late  famine 
years,  will  soon  put  an  end  to  these  false  reports. 

"  Sincerely  wishing  you  health  and  success  in  the 
cause  of  God  and  our  country,  in  which  you  have 
always  labored  so  hard  and  unselfishly, 

"  My  very  dear  Sister  F.  C., 
"  Yours  as  ever, 

"  M.  NELIGAN,  C.  C." 

"THE  PALACE,  THURLES,  March  28,  1882. 
" MY  DEAR  SISTER  CLARE,  —  "I  think  it  would  do 
no  harm  to  publish  a  short  account  of  your  departure 


504 


APPENDIX. 


from  Kenmare  Convent,  showing  clearly,  as  you  can 
do,  by  documentary  evidence,  that  you  had  full  leave 
and  license  to  leave  Kenmare  and  go  to  Knock,  thence 
to  Newry,  and  finally  to  settle  in  Knock,  with  a  view 
to  the  erection  there  of  a  convent  of  your  order.  Dr. 
McCabe  had  been  told  that  you  had  no  leave  to  quit 
Kenmare,  this  I  know.  Hence,  I  suppose,  the  eviction. 

"  Yours  most  faithfully, 
"  T.  W.  CROKE." 

"THE  PALACE,  THURLES,  March  i,  1882. 
"Mv  DEAR  SISTER  CLARE,  —  All   right.     I  am    de- 
lighted you  have  sent  a  crusher  to  the   hierarch   in 

question  ;  he  is  not  Dr.  G . 

"  I  think  the  publication  of  the  letters  from  Dr. 
Higgins,  Dr.  Leahy,  and  Dr.  McEvilly,  for  private  cir- 
culation among  the  bishops  and  nobody  else,  would  do 
a  deal  of  good.  God  speed  and  prosper  you. 

"  Your  friend,  T.  W.  CROKE." 

"  The  '  Nun  of  Kenmare.'  " 

I  sent  the  above  letter  to  Father  Cavanagh,  and  he 
replied, — 

March  4,  1882. 

"  You  ought  to  act  on  Dr.  Croke's  advice  to  publish 
the  letters  of  Bishop  Higgins  and  your  confessor,  which 
prove  how  utterly  and  maliciously  false  this  bishop's 
reports  were,  for  Archbishop  Croke  is  surely  a  great 
and  sincere  friend.  Both  from  his  exalted  position  in 
the  church,  and  his  great  learning  and  ability,  he  is 
held  in  the  greatest  esteem  by  his  countrymen  all  over 
world.  Circulate  his  very  memorable  letter  to  you 
everywhere,  at  home  and  abroad." 

"CONVENT  OF  ST.  CLARE,  NEWRY,  Dec.  16,  1881. 
"  MY  DEAR  LORD  ARCHBISHOP,  —  I   release    Sister 
M.  Francis   Clare,   Cusack,  from  whatever  canonical 
obedience  she  owes  to  me  as  Bishop  of  Dromore,  and  I 


APPENDIX. 


505 


hereby  transfer  that  obedience  to   your  grace.     With 
sincere  esteem,  your  grace's  ob't  servant  in  Christ, 
"  BROTHER  JOHN  Pius  LEAHY,  O.  P., 
"Bishop  of  Dromore. 
"  To  MOST  REV.  DR.  McEviLLY,  Lord  Bishop  of  Tuam." 

THE  PALACE,  THURLES,  Oct.  3,  1888. 

"  MY  DEAR  SISTER  M.  CLARE,  —  I  have  got  all  your 
communications,  and  am  very  happy  to  hear  that  things 
have  taken  a  turn  in  your  favor. 

"Archdeacon  Bagshawe  is  a  first-rate  man,  and  I  am 
quite  sure  that  you  will  be  much  happier  in  his  diocese 
than  you  could  be  in  Connaught. 

"  I  am  always  promising  myself  the  pleasure  of  see- 
ing your  bishop  in  his  own  castle,  as  I  admire  him 
much,  so  you  may  some  day  or  other  behold  me  on 
Bluebill  Hill.      Tell  him,  and  always  believe  me  to  be, 
"  Yours  very  faithfully, 

"  J.  CROKE,  Archbishop  of  Cashel." 

(From  the  Right  Rev.  Mgr.  Stonor.) 

"  27  VIA  SISTINA,  ROME,  Dec.  i,  1884. 

"  DEAR  REV.  MOTHER,  —  Many  thanks  for  your  let- 
ter, and  for  all  the  news  you  gave  me  of  the  Order  of 
Peace.  I  feel  sure  it  will  do  a  great  deal  of  good  the 
more  it  is  spread,  and  I  hope  you  will  be  able  to  have 
some  foundations  in  Ireland  before  long.  I  regret  you 
are  not  able  to  go  to  America,  where  your  name  is  so 
well  known,  and  where  you  are  sure  to  receive  sup- 
port. You  must  not,  however,  give  up  the  idea  of 
going  there. 

"  I  am  sorry  I  have  not  been  able  to  get  anything 
from  the  Holy  Father  as  yet  for  your  bazar,  but  I  hope 
to  do  so  when  I  have  an  opportunity  of  asking  him. 

"  Hoping  you  will  remember  me  in  your  good  prayers, 
"  Believe  me,  yours  very  sincerely, 

"EDMOND  STONOR." 


506  APPENDIX. 

[From  His  Eminence  Cardinal  McCloskey."] 

"  Your  '  Life  and  Times  of  His  Holiness  Pope  Pius 
IX. '  may  be  considered  a  monumental  work  for  which 
we  must  all  feel  indebted  to  you.  May  God  preserve 
you  long  to  labor  in  the  cause  of  his  holy  church,  and 
of  his  beloved  poor." 


PART   III. 

Bishop  Wigger's  Letters  of  Approval. 

"  SETON  HALL  COLLEGE,  SOUTH  ORANGE,  N.  J., 

"December  16,  1884. 

"  Sister  Mary  Francis  Clare  intends  to  establish  in 
the  diocese  of  Newark  one  of  her  '  Homes  for  Irish 
Girls,'  for  which  she  has  my  full  approval.  I  cordially 
recommend  her  to  the  faithful  of  this  diocese,  and  I 
wish  her  every  success  in  her  praiseworthy  undertaking. 
"  t  WM.  WIGGER,  Bishop  of  Newark" 

"SETON  HALL  COLLEGE,  SOUTH  ORANGE,  N.  J. 

"  March  4,  1885. 

"  REV.  DEAR  MOTHER  FRANCIS  CLARE,  —  I  hereby 
grant  you  permission  to  open  in  Jersey  City,  a  house 
for  immigrant  girls,  for  the  training  of  girls  for  domestic 
service,  and  for  their  reception  when  out  of  situations, 
or  enfeebled  by  old  age. 

"  I  give  my  blessing  to  this  good  work,  and  pray  God 
to  give  you  great  success  in  this  charitable  undertaking. 
"  Yours  very  sincerely, 

"  t  WM.  WIGGER,  Bishop  of  Newark." 

HOME   AND   TRAINING  SCHOOL   FOR   THE   POOR    CATHOLIC 
BLIND. 

"  SETON  HALL  COLLEGE,  SOUTH  ORANGE, 

"  March  19  '86. 

"DEAR  MOTHER  FRANCIS  CLARE,  —  I  heartily  approve 
of  your  project  of  establishing  an  institution  for  the 


APPENDIX. 


507 


training  of  the  poor  blind.  The  need  of  such  an  insti- 
tution has  long  been  felt.  On  various  occasions  I  have 
been  asked  by  Catholics  if  there  was  such  a  school,  as 
they  wished  to  place  a  child  in  it,  and,  to  my  sorrow,  I 
have  always  been  obliged  to  answer  that  I  knew  of  no 
Catholic  school  of  that  kind,  and  that  most  probably 
there  was  none  in  the  States.  I  feel  that  an  institution 
of  this  kind  would  do  much  good,  if  we  only  had  the 
means  to  establish  it.  I  know  of  a  very  nice  building 
containing  over  two  hundred  and  fifty  rooms,  very  suit- 
able for  your  purpose,  and  which  could  be  bought  for 
about  one  fifth  of  its  original  cost,  but  I  fear  that  even 
that  amount  could  not  be  collected  entirely  in  this 
diocese.  Perhaps  some  of  the  most  reverend  and  right 
reverend  prelates  in  other  dioceses,  realizing  the  great 
utility  of  a  Catholic  training  school  for  the  blind,  would 
allow  you  to  collect  among  some  of  their  wealthier 
Catholics.  I  willingly  grant  you  permission  to  leave 
your  convent  for  two  months  in  company  with  one  of 
your  sisters,  to  see  what  could  be  done  in  this  direction. 
I  warmly  recommend  you  to  the  kindness  of  the  pre- 
lates on  whom  you  may  call,  and  sincerely  hope  that 
you  will  succeed  in  gaining  the  object  of  your  mission. 
With  best  wishes,  I  remain, 

"  Yours  very  sincerely, 

"  W.  M.  WIGGER,  Bishop  of  Newark." 


PART    IV. 

Copies  of  Letters  Addressed  by  Sister  M.  Francis  Clare  to  Archbishop 
Corrigan,  asking  him  to  Investigate  the  Charges  which  some  of  his 
Priests  were  Constantly  Making  Against  Her. 

"  SISTERS  OF  PEACE,  JERSEY  CITY, 

"  Easter  Eve,  1887. 

"Mv  LORD  ARCHBISHOP,  —  A  Herald  reporter  came 
to  me  on  Friday  with  a  letter,  a  copy  of  which  I  inclose. 
It  shows,  what  I  know  to  be  true,  that  there  is  a  general 
and  strong  opinion  in  New  York,  that  you  consider  me 


APPENDIX. 


a  most  unworthy  sister,  and  that  you  ignore,  by  so  doing, 
the  fact  that  I  have  the  written  approbation  of  the  Holy 
Father  for  my  work,  and  of  the  fact  that  before  that 
approbation  was  given,  the  Herald  reporter  told  me  he 
had  waited  on  your  grace.  He  could  not  see  you,  but 
he  saw  your  secretary,  who  appears  to  conduct  your  af- 
fairs. I  asked  him,  if  he  had  no  objection,  might  I 
tell  you  what  your  secretary  said.  And  he  replied  he 
had  no  objection.  He  said  that  you  had  refused  me 
leave  to  establish  a  house  of  our  Order  in  your  diocese, 
because  it  would  interfere  with  Father  Riordan.  I  told 
the  reporter  this  was  not  true.  I  never  asked  to  inter- 
fere with  Father  Riordan's  work,  or  to  do  anything  that 
would  interfere  with  it.  At  the  same  time  I  stated  that 
as  ours  is  the  only  religious  order  in  the  church  which 
has  been  established  for  the  purpose  of  helping  emi- 
grants as  well  as  working  girls,  that  loyalty  and  devo- 
tion to  the  Holy  See  would,  I  supposed,  have  made  you 
wish  to  have  our  assistance  in  this  work.  Father  Rior- 
dan cannot  do  the  work  of  sisters,  and  sisters  are  needed 
for  this  work  everywhere. 

"  The  leave  you  refused  was  when  I  asked  to  open  a 
summer  home  for  girls  in  Nyack,  and  you  know  well  I 
had  the  good  wishes  of  the  priest  there.  We  have  had 
great  difficulty  in  finding  a  suitable  place  in  this  dio- 
cese, while,  in  your  immense  territory,  a  place  could 
have  been  found  perfectly  suitable  and  for  reasonable 
price.  Naturally,  people  would  say  you  must  have  had 
something  very  serious  against  me  when  you  refused. 
ad.  He  said  I  was  refused  leave  to  collect,  and  did  not 
give  a  reason. 

"  Miss  Gilbert  has  simply  expressed  the  general  opin- 
ion. I  beg  leave  respectfully  to  submit  to  your  grace 
that  if  you  have  heard  any  charge  made  against  me  you 
should  first  inquire  from  myself,  or,  if  you  prefer  it, 
from  my  agent  in  Propaganda,  Very  Rev.  Pom  Gualdi, 
—  who,  as  you  are  no  doubt  aware,  is  one  of  the  minu- 
tandi  in  Propaganda,  —  whether  it  is  true  or  not,  and 
second  if  you  have  not  heard  any  charge  against  me,  you 


APPENDIX. 


509 


should  at  once,  and  publicly,  put  an  end  to  all  this 
scandal. 

"Both  Catholics  and  Protestants  are  asking  why  it  is, 
when  my  work  was  so  highly  approved  in  Rome,  that 
you  or  any  of  your  council  should  state  what  it  has  been 
stated  that  you  have  said  about  me. 

"  I  have  never  done  one  single  act  contrary  to  reli- 
gious obedience  since  I  entered  religion.  I  have  here 
with  me  the  written  permission,  and  even  approbation  of 
my  ecclesiastical  superior  for  everything  I  have  done.  It 
is,  then,  very  hard  for  me,  especially  as  a  convert,  at  my 
time  of  life,  to  hear  that  I  am  spoken  of  as  a  "  disobe- 
dient nun,"  as  if,  in  fact,  I  had  been  another  Maria 
Monk,  so  that  many  Catholics,  and  even  Protestants  in 
the  diocese  have  been  cautioned  to  have  nothing  to  do 
with  me.  For  myself,  it  matters  very  little  what  is  said 
of  me,  but  I  feel  bound  to  put  a  stop  to  this  calumny 
for  the  sake  of  the  order  which  I  have  established,  and 
for  the  honor  of  the  Holy  See. 

"  My  very  silence  and  patience  have  made  my  enemies 
more  daring  and  more  uncharitable.  I  have  evidence 
now  in  writing  in  my  possession,  of  cruel  slanders  which 
are  daily  repeated  against  me  by  priests,  and  if  I  were 
not  a  sister  I  would  at  once  instruct  a  lawyer  to  take  an 
action  against  them  for  defamation  of  character,  and,  be 
assured,  the  McGlynn  case  would  be  a  trifle  in  compari- 
son, for  no  one  can  bring  forward  a  charge  against  me 
of  breach  of  religious  discipline  or  any  other  fault. 

"  I  do  not  know  why  I  am  so  slandered  and  perse- 
cuted, only  that  the  persons  know  they  are  safe  in  doing 
it  because  I  am  a  sister.  I  have  been  on  the  point,  more 
than  once,  during  my  very  severe  illness,  of  writing  to 
the  Holy  Father,  and  resigning  into  his  hands  the 
charge  he  has  given  me,  and  telling  to  him  and  to  the 
whole  world  why  I  could  no  longer  bear  it. 

"  I  will  now  submit  to  your  grace  proof  that  it  is  gene- 
rally believed  that  y£>u  know  something  very  serious 
against  my  character,  and  that  this  is  the  reason  why 
you  have  acted  towards  me  as  if  I  had  been  an  unworthy 
religious, 


APPENDIX. 


"  First,  I  have  a  letter  addressed  to  me  by  a  lady  who 
heard  Mgr.  Quinn  speaking  of  me  as  a  bad  religious, 
one  "  who  had  disobeyed  her  bishop,"  and  he  asked  her 
how  she  could  have  anything  to  do  with  me.  I  ask  — 
what  bishop  did  I  disobey,  and  when  ? 

"  Second.  When  I  came  back  from  the  South  (in 
the  fall),  where  I  had  gone,  on  business,  by  the 
desire  of  my  bishop ;  Mother  D of  S know- 
ing that  I  was  coming  home  in  a  dying  state,  as 
was  then  supposed,  —  and  would  to  God  I  had 
died,  —  wrote  to  ask  me  to  go  to  S ,  as  the  doc- 
tor said  it  would  be  certain  death  to  go  back  to  Jersey 
City.  I  went  there.  I  had  scarcely  been  a  fortnight 
there  when  she  came  to  me  one  day  in  great  distress, 
and  said  a  lady  had  come  to  her  from  your  grace,  as 
a  friend  of  your  grace,  a  lady  with  whom  you  were 
specially  intimate,  and  often  dined  with  her.  She  asked 

Mother  D did  she  not  know  you  were  opposed  to 

me,  and  considered  me  a  bad  religious,  in  fact  that  you 
would  be  very  angry  if  I  stopped  in  any  of  your  con- 
vents. Poor  Mother  D was  terrified,  and  I  said 

to  her  at  once,  '  I  will  leave  in  an  hour ;  you  shall  not 
suffer  for  me,'  and  I  left  at  once.  Your  grace  will  see 
from  this  circumstance,  and  I  could  mention  many 
others,  that  I  have  grave  cause  of  complaint.  You  will 
see,  also,  that  I  have  kept  these  matters  quiet,  and  you 
know  very  well  what  the  consequences  would  have  been 
had  I  even  spoken  of  it  privately. 

"  No  wonder  that  Catholics  and  Protestants  are  alike 

scandalized.     I  trust  in  God,  poor  Mother  D will 

not  get  into  trouble  now.     A  sister  of  one  of  her  sisters 

—  Sister  M.  L ,  is  one  of  my  professed  sisters  here 

in  Jersey  City.  We  have  been  on  very  friendly  terms, 
and  it  will  be  sad  indeed  if  our  friendly  intercourse  is 
broken  up,  or  if  she  is  made  to  suffer  for  an  act  of 
kindness. 

"  I  will  add  that  I  have  not  said  one  word  of  these 
matters  to  the  reporter  or  any  reporter.  Badly  as  I 
have  been  treated,  I  have  kept  silence, 


APPENDIX.  5  r  j 

"  I  am  sure  —  as  your  grace  must  be  too  devoted  a 
son  of  the  church  to  wish  even  to  appear  to  act  against 
the  Holy  Father,  or  to  allow  your  priests  to  do  so  —  you 
will  do  all  you  can  to  arrange  some  plan  for  publicly 
showing  your  approbation  of  our  work,  and  stopping  this 
scandal.  You  will  remember  that  Bishop  VVigger  was 
offered  Mgr.  Ducey's  church  to  have  a  collection  for  the 
benefit  of  our  home.  Could  not  this  be  done  still  ? 
The  great  majority  of  the  girls  who  come  to  us  are  from 
your  diocese,  and  they  have  felt  bitterly  your  refusal 
to  allow  us  to  have  a  suitable  place  for  them  in  their 
own  diocese. 

"  I  pray  God  to  give  your  grace  the  courage  to  act  for 
yourself,  and  not  be  guided  by  men  who  unfortunately 
are  influenced  by  the  poor  motives  of  likes  and  dis- 
likes. 

"  Another  matter  which  gave  great  trouble  was  my  be- 
ing in  Roosevelt  Hospital  instead  of  a  sister's  hospital. 
The  operations  I  have  had  to  undergo  were  so  serious 
they  could  only  be  done  safely  in  a  hospital.  How 
could  I  go  to  a  Catholic  hospital,  where  I  might  have 
been  turned  out  at  a  moment's  notice  by  your  grace, 
and  where  I  could  not  expect  the  sympathy  of  sisters 
who  would  fear  to  offend  you,  knowing  your  feelings 
about  me.  I  think  you  will  respect  me  for  the  silence 
with  which  I  have  borne  this  trial,  and  so  far  concealed 
the  reason.  I  can  tell  your  grace  also  that  there  are 
several  priests  in  New  York  who  wish  to  have  a  home 
of  the  order  in  their  parish  for  our  special  work,  and 
why  should  the  permission  be  denied  ?  We  can  make 
them  self-supporting,  and  do  a  work  that  no  other  sis- 
ters are  doing.  Yours  very  sincerely  in  J.  C. 

"  SISTER  M.  FRANCIS  CLARE, 

"  Mother-General  of  the  Sisters  of  Peace, 

P.  S.  The  scandalous  reports  made  about  me  by  an 
English  priest,  as  to  my  having  left  my  convent  without 
leave,  were  carefully  investigated  by  Propaganda,  and 
I  have  a  written  declaration  that  they  were  without  one 
shadow  of  foundation. 


5  1 2  APPENDIX. 

FROM  SISTER  M.  FRANCIS  CLARE  TO  ARCHBISHOP  COR- 
RIGAN,  ASKING  PERMISSION  TO  FOUND  A  HOME  FOR 
WORKING  GIRLS  AT  NYACK. 

"  September  22,  1886. 

"Mv  LORD,  —  I  write  to  ask  your  grace's  permission 
to  have  a  place  in  or  near  Nyack,  for  our  girls,  or  rather 
for  yours,  as  the  greater  majority  of  girls  who  came  to 
us  for  their  summer  holidays  are  from  New  York  ;  also, 
the  greater  numbe*of  girls  who  came  from  time  to  time 
to  get  rest  from  overwork  or  malaria.  I  am  sure,  when 
your  grace  knows  all  the  circumstances,  that  you  will 
not  refuse. 

"  You  know  that  the  Holy  Father  has  approved  our 
Order  by  a  written  brief  —  the  original  of  which  I  have 
in  our  Jersey  City  convent.  Our  work  is  for  living  out, 
working,  and  factory  girls.  In  any  case,  temporary 
rest  and  care  will,  not  only  save  them  from  long  illness, 
but  from  far  worse  dangers  into  which  they  are  often 
led  for  want  of  special  provision  for  their  special  needs. 

"  I  make  this  request  for  the  sake  of  the  girls,  as  we 
cannot  find  a  place  in  Jersey  which  is  not  full  of 
malaria  —  and  though  I  am  very  reluctant  to  put  in 
such  a  plea,  I  ask  it  for  myself.  I  have  been  danger- 
ously ill,  I  have  been  ordered  here  by  a  consultation  of 
doctors  who  consider  this  air  essential  for  my  recovery, 
if  not  for  my  life. 

"  If  your  grace  grants  this  desired  permission,  be  as- 
sured you  will  never  regret  it.  We  can  bs  of  very 
great  benefit  to  any  mission  where  we  are  located,  as 
the  girls  who  come  to  us  are  of  a  respectable  class,  and 
we  had  as  many  as  seventy  or  eighty  at  a  time  last 
summer,  and,  when  we  have  a  suitable  place,  we  would 
have  an  average  of  two  hundred. 

"  All  these  girls  would  help  to  support  the  church 
which,  of  course,  they  will  attend,  and,  in  a  poor  place 
like  this,  it  will  be  a  great  benefit.  If  the  priest  should 
require  our  services,  either  to  teach  converts,  etc.,  or  to 
look  up  cases,  we  shall  be  happy  to  do  so. 


APPENDIX. 


5*3 


"  As  the  girls  pay  for  their  board,  we  do  not  want  any 
help  from  the  parish,  and  shall  not  ask  any  —  whatever 
benefit  we  may  be  to  the  parish,  we  ask  for  nothing  in 
return. 

"  Later  on,  if  your  grace  pleases,  we  would  be  thank- 
ful to  have  a  private  chaplain,  and  to  pay  him  the  usual 
honorarium.  It  might  be  a  comfortable  home  for  some 
aged  or  invalid  priest,  but,  even  in  this  case,  the  girls 
should  all  attend  mass  in  the  parish  church  on  Sundays 
and  holidays,  so  that  the  priest  would  be  benefited  all 
the  same.  Asking  the  favor  of  an  early  reply, 

"Yours  very  sincerely  in  J.  C., 
"  SISTER  M.  FRANCIS  CLARE, 

"  Mother-General  of  the  Sisters  of  Peace." 
This  request  was  peremptorily  refused. 


PETITION     FOR    THE    ESTABLISHMENT    OF     A     HOUSE    OF 
OUR    ORDER    IN    WASHINGTON. 

To  His  EMINENCE  CARDINAL  GIBBONS. 

"  YOUR  EMINENCE,  —  We,  the  undersigned  employees 
of  this  government  beg  most  respectfully  to  call  your 
attention  to  our  condition.  Many  of  us  have  neither 
father  or  mother,  and  are  dependent  upon  the  cheap 
boarding-houses  of  the  capital  city  for  a  domicile,  erro- 
neously called  home  ;  in  case  of  loss  of  position  through 
ill  health  or  dismissal,  our  lot  is  far  from  being  a  pleas- 
ant one.  Hence  we  appeal  to  your  eminence  to  grant 
permission  to  the  Nun  of  Kenmare  to  establish  a  home 
here,  wherein  we  could  board  and  receive  that  atten- 
tion and  moral  security  which  unfortunately  is  not  our 
lot  in  the  city  boarding-house.  We  are  well  aware  of 
the  tender  regard  which  your  eminence  has  always 
shown  for  the  working  women  of  your  diocese,  and 
feel  confident  that  you  will  not  permit  this  opportunity 
to  pass  if  you  deem  it  prudent  to  grant  your  approval. 
We  need  not  recall  to  you  the  various  temptations 
which  fall  in  the  pathway  of  the  Catholic  workwomen 


514  APPENDIX. 

of  this  capital  city,  as  your  priests,  through  the  confes- 
sional, are  fully  aware  of  the  dangers  which  beset  the 
most  virtuous  of  our  class.  Hence  we  most  heartily 
pray  that  your  eminence,  occupying  the  exalted  posi- 
tion which  you  now  hold,  will  give  our  petition  due 
consideration  ;  and  we  promise  you  the  daily  prayers 
of  thousands  of  honest  workwomen,  not  only  of  Wash- 
ing, but  of  the  entire  United  States.  We  have  the 
honor  to  subscribe  ourselves,  your  most  faithful  and 
obedient  children  in  Jesus  Christ." 


PART   V. 

General  Letters.  Copy  of  Letter  addressed  by  the  Sisters  to  Bishop 
Keane,  now  Rector  of  the  new  Roman  Catholic  University  at  Wash- 
ington. Specimens  of  Attacks  made  on  Sister  M.  Francis  Clare  by 
Priests. 

REPORT  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  OF  GENTLEMEN  WHO  AR- 
RANGED FOR  A  PUBLIC  LECTURE  TO  HELP  THE  WORK 
OF  THE  SISTERS  OF  PEACE,  UNDER  THE  SUPERVI- 
SION 'OF  THE  NUN  OF  KENMARE. 

THE  work  of  the  Sisters  of  Peace  is  one  which  ap- 
peals to  all  classes  of  society,  for  it  has  the  singular 
advantage  of  benefiting  both  the  employer  and  the 
employed. 

It  is  a  peaceful  step  toward  the  solution  of  the  labor 
problem,  and  tends  to  promote  harmony  between  those 
whose  interests  are  one,  and  should  always  be  consid- 
ered together. 

The  Sisters  of  Peace  devote  their  lives  to  the  service 
of  the  working  classes  exclusively  :  — 

I.  They  establish  homes  for  girls  working  in  shops 
or  stores,  but  especially  for  living-out  girls,  who  so 
much  need  the  shelter  of  an  Institution  where  they  can 
remain  while  out  of  employment.  The  sisters  also 
benefit  employers,  as  they  supply  a  most  respectable 


APPENDIX.  5 !  5 

and  efficient  class  of  girls  to  those  who  apply  to  them 
for  servants. 

Immigrant  girls  of  all  nationalities  are  received  and 
specially  cared  for  by  the  sisters,  and  those  who  have 
no  home  or  friends  in  this  country  can  always  find  a 
home  and  a  mother's  care  in  our  institutions. 

II.  We  receive  and  train  children  for  domestic  ser- 
vice.    This  is  a  most  important  branch  of  our  work, 
which  we  have  not  yet  been  able  to  carry  out  fully  for 
want  of  funds.     We  believe  that  an  intelligent,  and  es- 
pecially a  personal  and  domestic  system   of   training 
children  will  fit  them  for  their  future  life,  either  to  be 
good  "  helps  "  in  the  family,  or,  what  is  no  less  impor- 
tant, to  be  good  wives  and  mothers  of  a  future  genera- 
tion. 

III.  An  important  branch  of  our  institution  is  the 
opening  of  summer  homes  for  working  girls.     Need  we 
appeal  for  such  a  noble  charity  ?     Those  girls  who  are 
day  after  day  toiling  in  the  store,  the  factory,  the  house- 
hold,  contributing   to  the   pleasure,   or  adding  to  the 
wealth  of  their  employers  surely  need  some  considera- 
tion at  our  hands. 

They  cannot  afford  to  pay  for  "country  board." 
They  can,  and  do  willingly  pay  what  they  can  in  our 
summer  home  —  but  we  find  ourselves  quite  unable  to 
carry  out  this  great  work  without  funds  to  erect  a  plain 
and  suitable  building.  We  have  secured  ground  for 
this  purpose  on  the  Jersey  side  of  the  historic  Hudson. 
Who  will  help  us  to  erect  the  necessary  buildings  ?  We 
need  dormitories  separate  (i)  for  girls,  (2)  for  mothers 
with  delicate  children,  (3)  for  children  whose  mothers 
cannot  take  them  to  the  country,  and  for  whom  we  shall 
make  special  arrangements  under  the  care  of  the  sisters. 

We  need  help  for  those  who  are  willing  to  help  them- 
selves as  far  as  they  can.  God  gives  you  the  honor  of 
being  His  Providence  for  them. 

Since  the  opening  of  our  institution  in  78  Grand 
Street,  Jersey  City,  we  have  provided  situations  for  over 
2,000  girls. 


516  APPENDIX. 

We  have  received  into  our  institution  350  destitute 
children. 

We  have  had  in  our  summer  home  at  Englewood, 
1,500  girls,  women,  and  children,  for  their  summer  holi- 
days and  rest. 

We  take  the  liberty  to  inclose  you  the  following 
tickets  for  an  object  that  cannot  fail  to  appeal  to  the 
charity  of  all  persons,  irrespective  of  religion  or  nation- 
ality. The  committee  feels  confident  our  appeal  to  you 
will  not  be  in  vain. 

All  remittances  can  be  mailed  to  Wm.  J.  Greer,  98 
Newark  Avenue,  Jersey  City. 

Wm.  Symes,  Chairman.  Financial  Secretary,  John  F. 
Kelly  ;  Corresponding  Secretary,  Philip  A.  McGovern ; 
Treasurer,  Wm.  J.  Greer ;  Committee,  Jas.  E.  Kelly, 
Edward  Doyle,  John  Glaccum,  Thos.  Nugent,  John  Mc- 
Ausland,  Abr'm  Post. 


THE    WORK    OF    THE    SISTERS   OF    PEACE. 

The  following  letter,  which  was  kindly  published  for 
me  in  the  Times  of  June  16,  1884,  will  fully  explain  the 
work  which  we  propose  to  do;  and  to  which  His  Holi- 
ness Pope  Leo  XIII.  has  been  pleased  to  give  his 
Apostolic  benediction. 


THE   DOMESTIC    TRAINING   OF   GIRLS. 

"  To  the  Editor  of  the  '  Times '  : 

"  SIR,  —  As  your  Rome  correspondent  has  telegraphed  the  ob- 
ject for  which  I  obtained  the  great  privilege  of  a  private  audience 
from  the  Pope,  I  will  ask  you  the  favor  of  allowing  me  to  say  a 
few  words  about  the  work  for  which  I  have  obtained  the  special 
approbation  of  the  Holy  See.  My  object  is  simple :  it  is  to  found 
a  religious  order  devoted  to  the  domestic  training  of  girls.  We 
propose  not  merely  to  train  girls  for  domestic  service,  but  for 
what  I  consider  of  equally  great,  if  not  of  greater  importance  — to 
train  girls  for  domestic  life. 

"  The  peace  of  the  family  and  the  prosperity  of  the  family  de- 
pend upon  domestic  life.  Families  are  the  units  of  nations.  If 


APPENDIX. 


517 


you  have  peace  and  prosperity  in  the  family,  you  have  it  in  the 
nation.  The  subject  is  as  vast  as  it  is  important,  but  I  refrain 
from  entering  on  it.  A  great  deal  of  the  political  disturbance  of 
the  present  day  arises  from  the  social  condition  of  the  so-called 
lower  classes.  I  have  no  Utopian  scheme  for  making  millionaires 
of  poor  men.  I  have  a  long-formed,  very  ardent  desire  to  train 
the  children  of  the  poor  for  domestic  life  in  a  practical  way,  and  I 
believe  if  this  plan  were  carried  out  carefully  and  extensively  that 
it  would  do  very  much  to  make  the  houses  of  the  poor  more  com- 
fortable, and  as  a  necessary  consequence,  to  make  the  masses  of 
the  population  more  contented.  A  great  deal  of  the  education  of 
the  present  day  is,  I  believe,  an  honest  and  generous  effort  in  the 
wrong  direction.  There  are  many  men  of  large  minds  and  great 
hearts  who  feel  deeply  for  the  social  condition  of  the  poor  and 
middle  classes.  Naturally,  they  suppose  that  the  higher  the  edu- 
cation the  greater  the  social  comfort.  I  respect  the  benevolent 
intentions  of  these  gentlemen  none  the  less  because  I  know  that 
their  theory  will  not  work.  If  you  teach  a  girl  all  the  known 
sciences,  it  will  not  necessarily  teach  her  either  to  earn  her  living 
or  to  make  her  home  happy.  Further,  as  the  sphere  of  woman's 
work  advances  in  the  middle  classes,  and  as  she  enters  more  and 
more  into  duties  and  offices  hitherto  held  by  men,  the  necessity 
becomes  greater  that  those  who  do  the  domestic  work  of  the 
household  should  be  specially  and  carefully  trained  for  that 
special  purpose. 

"Theoretically,  training  is  useless.     I  propose  to  train  girls 

E ractically  for  domestic  life,  so  that  any  girls  so  trained  will  be,  I 
ope,  equally  fit  for  domestic  service  and  for  married  life.  I  be- 
lieve the  great  oversight  in  all  training  for  girls  has  been  that 
people  do  not  realize  the  fact,  that  the  girls  of  to-day  will  be  the 
wives  and  mothers  of  to-morrow,  and  the  girl  of  to-day  is  taught 
carefully  everything  except  what  will  make  her  fit  to  be  a  good 
wife  and  a  good  mother. 

"  The  difference  between  the  training  which  I  would  propose 
and  that  of  other  institutions,  where  girls  or  young  women  are 
prepared  for  service,  is  this  —  girls  will  be  trained,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, to  act  precisely  as  they  would  do  in  a  private  family,  instead 
of  being  trained  as  they  are  in  public  institutions.  The  inmates  of 
each  training-house  will  be  divided  into  groups  or  families  of  ten 
or  twelve.  Each  group  will  have  their  own  table,  their  own  bed- 
rooms, and  separate  places  for  cooking  in  the  general  kitchen. 
The  object  of  thus  dividing  the  girls  is  obvious.  Each  will 
learn  the  domestic  duty  for  which  she  is  most  suited;  one  will  act, 
for  example,  as  cook  for  her  group,  and  will  thus  learn  how  to 
cook,  keep  accounts,  and  provide  for  a  small  family.  Another  will 
have  charge  of  the  linen  and  needlework  for  her  group ;  another 
will  have  charge  of  the  washing.  Thus  each  girl  would  be  care- 
fully trained  for  a  certain  work  or  for  several  kinds  of  domestic 
work,  and  as  all  this  will  be  carried  out  under  an  experienced 


5i$ 


APPENDIX, 


superioress,  who  will  have  charge  of  the  group  or  family,  the  girls' 
training  will  prepare  them  practically  for  the  occupations  they  are 
likely  to  have  in  their  future  life,  whether  in  the  service  of  others 
or  in  their  own  homes.  Every  girl  in  each  group  would  be  taught 
in  turn  to  purchase  the  food  or  clothing  necessary  for  the  little 
family  group  to  which  she  belongs.  Thus  a  great  object  will  be 
attained.  It  is  well-known  that  girls  who  have  been  trained  in 
large  institutions  are  often  useless  when  they  return  to  their  own 
humble  homes,  or  when  they  are  engaged  as  servants  in  private 
families.  The  cause  of  this  is  obvious  —  everything  has  been  pro- 
vided for  them,  everything  has  been  arranged  for  them,  they  have 
had  no  personal  responsibility,  and  when  they  are  brought  face  to 
face  with  this  responsibility  they  do  not  know  how  to  act.  Girls 
who  are  trained  in  large  institutions  find  everything  ready  to  their 
hands,  and  are,  as  a  rule,  all  employed  in  one  kind  of  labor ;  they 
are  rarely  occupied  or  taught  the  various  minor  details  of  house- 
hold duty,  which  are  so  necessary  to  be  practised  by  a  good  ser- 
vant, and  which  are  equally  important  for  the  peace  and  com- 
fort of  families  where  they  are  employed.  Hence  the  necessity  of 
having  what  may  be  called  family  training.  Those  girls  who  are 
to  be  trained  for  nurses  will  have  special  opportunities  for  learn- 
ing their  duties  by  being  given  the  sole  charge  of  two  or  three  very 
young  children,  and  it  is  also  proposed,  where  such  works  may  be 
desirable  and  in  places  where  they  may  be  a  necessity,  to  have 
houses  for  friendless  girls  who  are  engaged  in  factories  and  other 
public  works,  and  who  are  often  exposed  to  most  terrible  danger. 
These  houses  may  be  made  at  least  partly,  if  not  altogether,  self- 
supporting,  as  girls  being  in  regular  employment  should  pay  a  cer- 
tain small  fixed  sum  for  their  board  and  lodgings.  These  houses 
may  be  under  the  charge  of  a  trustworthy  matron,  engaged  by  the 
sisters,  and  shall  be  constantly  and  closely  superintended  by  them. 
Every  effort  shall  be  made  to  make  these  houses  cheerful  and  at- 
tractive to  the  girls.  Girls  preparing  to  emigrate  will  also  be  re- 
ceived for  particular  training.  This  is  another  duty  of  great 
importance,  as  so  many  girls  are  placed  in  circumstances  of 
serious  temptation  (to  which  too  often  many  are  found  to  yield) 
when  they  arrive  in  foreign  countries  without  any  previous  train- 
ing or  preparation  for  the  duties  they  may  be  required  to  under- 
take. 

"  The  great  importance  of  this  work  has  been  recognized  very 
practically  by  the  Holy  See.  I  have  been  for  more  than  twenty 
years  a  professed  nun,  and  the  permission  now  granted  to  me  by 
Leo  XIII.  to  leave  the  Order  in  which  I  was  professed,  and  to 
found  a  new  order  for  this  purpose,  is  a  sufficient  evidence  of  this, 
as  such  dispensations  are  not  given  without  grave  consideration 
and  very  weighty  reasons. 

"  I  shall  feel  very  grateful  for  any  help  which  may  be  given  me 
for  this  undertaking.  Eventually,  I  expect  to  make  it  self-support- 
ing. To  commence  as  I  should  wish  to  do,  will  require  a  consid- 


APPENDIX. 


erable  outlay.     Donations  may  be  made  payable  to  the  Right  Rev. 
Dr.  Bagshawe,  St.  Barnabas  Cathedral,  Nottingham,  or  to  myself. 

"  Yours  faithfully, 
"  SISTER  MARY  FRANCIS  CLARE. 
"  St.  Francis  Xavier's  Convent,  Great  Grimsby,  Lincolnshire." 

Post  Office  orders  should  be  made  payable  to  me  on  Notting- 
ham Post  Office. 

[From  the  Times.] 

"THE  VATICAN,  ROME,  May  24th. 

"  The  Pope  gave  a  private  audience  this  morning  to  the  Rev- 
erend Mother  Mary  Francis  Clare,  who  has  come  to  Rome  to 
obtain  his  special  benediction  for  the  institution  which  she  has 
founded,  at  Nottingham,  for  the  training  of  girls  to  domestic 
service,  and  the  supply  of  lodgings  to  those  working  in  factories 
at  a  distance  from  their  homes." 

[From  the  Standard.] 

"  Sunday  night,  May  25,  1884. 

"  The  Pope  has  accorded  a  private  audience  to  Mother  Mary 
Clare,  who  came  to  implore  a  special  benediction  for  an  institution 
founded  by  her  in  the  diocese  of  Nottingham,  called  the  Sisters  of 
Peace  of  St.  Joseph,  the  object  of  which  is  to  bring  up  girls  to 
domestic  service,  to  teach  them  various  callings,  to  furnish  lodg- 
ings to  those  who  are  employed  far  from  their  families,  and  lastly, 
to  diffuse  Catholic  literature.  The  Pope  expressed  his  high 
approval  of  the  institution." 

"A  Roman  correspondent  says,  the  extracts  from  the Journal  de 
Rome  and  L'Osservatore  Romano,  authoritative  organs  of  the  Vat- 
ican, show  the  very  high  estimation  in  which  Mother  Francis  Clare 
is  held  by  the  Holy  Father ;  how  greatly  he  esteems  her  literary 
works,  and  how  much  interest  he  feels  in  '  her  career  and  course 
of  Apostolic  work.'  The  Pope  has  been  made  acquainted,  through 
some  of  the  Roman  Cardinals,  with  the  life  and  labors  of  the 
'  celebrated  religieuse.'  The  result  was  the  merited  compliment 
recorded  by  these  papers,  '  the  Holy  Father  highly  praised  her 
zeal  and  her  labors,  and  accorded  to  the  good  religieuse  his  special 
encouragement  and  benediction.' 

"  A  higher  tribute  to  any  one  could  not  be  given,  and  Mother 
Francis  Clare  may  rest  satisfied  that,  by  those  who  can  appreciate 
her  single-minded  work,  she  has  not  been  unappreciated  or  under- 
estimated. The  complimentary  language  of  the  head  of  the  church 
is  an  honor  which  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say,  no  other  woman, 
religious  or  otherwise,  in  Europe  would  receive  from  such  a 
quarter.  So  keen  an  observer  of  men,  so  careful  a  dispenser  of 
praise  and  honors,  would  not  have  spoken  so  if  he  had  not  felt,  by 
his  inquiries  and  judgment,  fully  justified  in  his  exalted  praise  of 
this  distinguished  Irishwoman." 


520 


APPENDIX. 


COPY  OF  LETTER  ADDRESSED  TO  THE  RIGHT  REV.  DR. 
KEANE,  NOW  HEAD  OF  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  UNI- 
VERSITY, BY  THE  SISTERS  OF  PEACE,  ASKING  HIM 
TO  WITHDRAW  THE  FALSE  CHARGES  WHICH  HE 
HAD  MADE  AGAINST  THEIR  SUPERIOR. 

The  following  letter  was  sent  to  Bishop  Keane,  now 
rector  of  the  new  Roman  Catholic  University,  by  the 
sisters,  while  I  was  in  the  South  this  year  (1888).  They 
did  this,  hoping  he  would  do  something,  for  the  sake  of 
religion,  to  put  an  end  to  the  reports  which  he  himself 
had  helped  to  circulate;  they  hoped  that  his  position 
would  render  him  even  more  anxious  than  Others  that 
this  great  discredit  to  the  Roman  Catholic  church 
should  be  removed.  A  word  from  him  would  have  done 
it.  The  letter  was  sent,  but  to  this  date  no  reply  has 
been  received.  As  I  print  this  from  a  copy  sent  to  me 
by  the  sisters,  which  has  no  date  on  it,  I  cannot  give 
the  exact  time  at  which  it  was  despatched.  But  I  will 
let  it  speak  for  itself ;  I  think  the  sisters  did  right  to 
make  the  effort,  though  their  good  intentions  have 
failed.  They  knew  all  I  had  suffered  for  years  from 
these  calumnies,  and  how  useless  all  my  efforts  had 
been  to  have  them  removed.  Indeed,  they  only  seemed 
to  increase  with  time.  They  knew  also  that  all  I  had 
suffered  had  been  caused  by  grief  and  anxiety  from 
finding  that  even  the  approbation  of  the  Holy  Father 
counted  for  very  little,  with  those  who  had  their  own 
reasons  for  opposing  my  work. 

God  knows  how  dear  the  sisters  are  to  me,  and  I 
know  well  how  they  love  me.  They  were  the  eyewit- 
nesses of  my  hopeless  struggles  against  injustice,  and 
their  hearts  bled  for  me  none  the  less  that  they  were 
powerless  to  help  me  except  by  their  prayers. 

I  have  treasured,  and  shall  always  treasure,  their 
letters  of  fondest  sympathy  when  I  went  to  Dublin, 
only  to  find  that  it  was  hopeless  to  persevere  at  Knock, 
as  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam,  instead  of  consulting  them, 
would  only  listen  to  the  very  people  who  cared  for 


APPENDIX. 


521 


nothing  but  their  own  interests.  If  he  had  listened  to 
the  sisters  and  not  to  idle  gossip,  it  would  have 
been  more  for  his  own  credit,  and  he  might  still  have 
in  his  diocese  a  work  which  he  said  "  was  ad- 
mirable, and  worthy  of  a  religious  soul ;  which  had 
for  its  object  to  save  souls  that  might  otherwise  have 
been  lost  forever." 

I  have  spoken  of  the  sisters  in  this  book  as  little  as 
possible,  because  I  do  not  want  to  give  any  excuse  to 
those  who  I  know  too  well  would  gladly  avail  them- 
selves of  it,  to  prevent  them  from  carrying  out  their 
work.  I  have  kept  them  ignorant  of  where  I  have 
been  and  of  what  I  have  done,  as  far  as  possible,  not 
because  I  do  not  love  them,  but  because  I  do  love 
them  and  desire  their  work  to  prosper.  I  know  they 
will  not  misunderstand  me,  I  know  that  they  will  be 
even  more  anxious  to  keep  up  the  good  work  in  my 
absence,  I  know  that  what  I  taught  them  of  the  sister's 
life  will  be  observed  as  strictly  as  it  has  been  through 
all  our  troubles,  and  I  believe  when  the  record  of  these 
sisters'  lives  is  made  manifest  at  the  last  day,  those  who 
have  obliged  me  to  leave  them  will  be  filled  with  shame 
and  regret. 

"  CONVENT  OF  THE  SISTERS  OF  PEACE, 
JERSEY  CITY,  N.  J. 

"Mv  LORD,  —  Our  Mother  General,  most  generally 
known  as  the  Nun  of  Kenmare,  was  sent  by  our  bishop, 
the  Right  Rev.  W.  M.  Wigger,  to  Baltimore  and  other 
places  South,  in  March,  1886,  for  the  purpose  of  seeing 
several  bishops,  partly  to  try  and  interest  them  in  the 
establishment  of  a  home  for  the  Catholic  blind,  and 
partly  hoping  that,  by  a  personal  interview,  she  might 
be  able  to  satisfy  them,  by  the  documents  which  she 
brought  with  her  from  Rome,  that  the  many  and  cruel 
slanders  which  have  been  circulated  about  her  were 
not  only  false,  but  absolutely  without  any  foundation 
whatever,  and  were  originated  by  persons  who  dislike 
her  great  zeal  for  souls,  and  her  wonderful  energy  in 
good  works. 


522 


APPENDIX. 


"  In  this  mission  she  failed,  not  from  want  of  proof 
of  the  divine  character  of  her  mission,  and  of  the  full 
approval  of  it  by  the  Holy  See,  but  because  the  eccle- 
siastics to  whom  she  applied  preferred  to  believe 
scandals  which  did  not  exist,  and  would  not  accept  the 
denial  of  them  by  the  Holy  Father  and  Propaganda. 

"  Now,  my  lord,  you  were  one  of  the  bishops  who 
have  not  only  spoken  but  written  what  is  most  scan- 
dalous and  calumnious  of  our  beloved  superior,  and  we 
have  the  evidence  in  your  own  handwriting.  You, 
with  others,  have  helped  to  deprive  the  Catholic  church 
of  the  services,  and  to  break  the  loving  and  tender 
heart  of  one  of  the  truest  and  most  devoted  of  God's 
spouses. 

"  We  understand  that  your  lordship  is  advanced  to  a 
most  distinguished  position  in  the  Catholic  church  of 
America,  a  position  which  places  in  your  hands  the 
future  of  the  Catholic  church  of  America.  As  you  will 
have  the  formation  of  the  characters  of  the  future 
priests,  we  suppose  that  you  will  teach  them  that  justice 
to  poor  as  well  as  to  rich,  and  that  reparation  for  wrong 
done,  is  as  much  the  duty  of  the  priest  as  of  the  layman. 

"  I  inclose  a  copy  of  your  letter  in  which  you  have 
brought  these  scandalous  charges  against  our  superior. 
Your  present  position  makes  it  most  important,  both 
for  yourself  and  for  us,  that  they  should  be  fully  and 
publicly  retracted.  I  may  add  that  the  circulation  of 
such  scandals  about  our  superior  is  also  a  grave  injury  to 
the  Holy  Father,  as  people  naturally  ask,  how  is  it  that 
this  sister  is  so  spoken  of  by  ecclesiastics  when  the  Holy 
Father  has  granted  to  her  the  extraordinary  favor  of. 
being  .foundress  of  our  new  order?  Why  should  an 
American  bishop  demand  that '  she  should  go  back  to  her 
convent  in  Ireland,'  when  the  Holy  Father  has  author- 
ized her  to  leave  it  for  a  new  and  most  important  work  ? 
Wrhy  should  she  be  treated  with  suspicion  and  contempt 
when  Propaganda  has  officially  declared  that  '  she  is 
worthy  of  the  trust  and  confidence  of  all  who  may 
place  themselves  under  her  guidance? '  The  original  of 


APPENDIX. 


523 


this  document  is  in  the  possession  of  our  English  ec- 
clesiastical superior,  the  Right  Rev.  G.  W.  Bagshawe, 
of  Nottingham.  What  are  her  '  many  plans  ? '  We 
who  have  been  her  spiritual  children  for  years,  are 
aware  of  only  one  plan,  it  has  been  to  work  for  God's 
poor.  When  and  where  has  she  ever  failed  in  obedience 
to  ecclesiastical  authority  ?  It  is  easy  to  invent  and  cir- 
culate reports,  but  a  time  may  come  when  something 
more  than  an  assertion  will  be  demanded  from  those 
who  speak  such  reports.  Suppose  that  the  whole 
miserable  story  of  our  Mother's  treatment  by  ecclesias- 
tics in  America  were  put  before  the  public,  and  your 
lordship  will  be  pleased  to  remember  we  have  written 
proof,  what  would  be  said  ?  Are  priests  in  this  new 
Catholic  university  to  be  educated  to  be  honest  men,  or 
as  men  who  will  not  pay  ordinary  respect  to  truth  and 
justice  and  to  the  decisions  of  the  Holy  See  ?  When 
did  our  Mother  go  '  from  one  part  of  the  world  to 
another '  without  the  permission  of  her  bishop  ?  Even 
this  Fall,  when  several  eminent  doctors  declared  her 
life  depended  on  her  spending  the  winter  in  the  South, 
it  was  with  great  difficulty  that  we  could  induce  her  to 
go,  and  it  was  only  when  our  bishop  said  that  he  wished 
her  to  do  so,  that  she  consented. 

"  Your  lordship  would  not  have  been  troubled  with 
this  letter,  but  we  feel  the  time  has  come  when  it  is 
our  duty  to  claim  recognition  and  respect  for  the  Holy 
Father's  decision.  Why  should  your  lordship  or  other 
American  bishops  refuse  our  mother  '  sympathy  ? ' 
Surely,  you  should  have  the  deepest  sympathy  for 
one  who  has  so  long  suffered  in  silence  when  she" 
might,  at  any  moment,  clear  herself  of  all  blame  by 
publishing  the  documents  in  her  possession  when  she 
has  refrained  from  doing  so  simply  because  the  public 
discredit  would  fall,  and  fall  justly,  on  those  very  eccle- 
siastics who  have  cared  so  little  for  her  unmerited  suffer- 
ings, and  why  should  it  not  ?  Within  the  last  two  years 
we  have  been  offered  ten  good  foundations  by  priests  in 
different  parts  of  America,  and  their  respective  bishops 


524 


APPENDIX. 


have  at  once  refused  to  allow  our  order  to  spread,  influ- 
enced by  false  reports  such  as  those  in  your  letter. 
Protestants  are  amazed  when  they  find  this  to  be  the 
case.  Protestant  institutions,  seaside  homes  etc,  are 
being  established  all  over  the  country  for  working-girls, 
and  even  in  the  very  places  where  we  have  been  refused 
permission  to  establish  homes  blest  by  the  Holy  Father. 
These  homes  are  filled  with  and  supported  by  Catholic 
girls,  as  we  can  prove. 

"  We  are  well  aware  that  there  is  in  America  one 
ecclesiastic  whose  prejudices  against  our  mother-gen- 
eral are  so  strong  that  even  the  benediction  and  au- 
thority of  the  Holy  Father  has  no  weight  with  him,  and 
it  would  be  amusing  if  it  was  not  very  sad  to  see  how 
some  Catholic  authorities  make  so  much  of  the  least 
word  from  Rome  when  it  is  in  their  favor,  and  treat 
with  utter  contempt  such  as  are  against  their  preju- 
dices, but  is  this  true  loyalty  to  the  Holy  See  ?  This  ec- 
clesiastic has,  we  know,  considerable  power  over  all  the 
other  bishops,  but,  my  lord,  surely  each  bishop  has  a 
conscience  of  his  own  and  a  duty  of  his  own  to  the 
Holy  See. 

"  We  shall  be  most  happy,  with  the  permission  of  our 
bishop,  to  go  to  Washington  and  bring  the  original  doc- 
ument of  the  Holy  Father's  founding  our  order,  for  the 
information  of  the  bishops  assembled  at  the  laying  the 
foundation  of  the  Catholic  university. 

"We  can  ourselves,  or  any  other  of  our  sisters  who 
are  long  professed  under  our  dear  mother's  care,  give 
personal  evidence  as  to  the  good  she  has  done  for 
souls  and  the  forbearance  with  which  she  has  borne 
persistent  calumny. 

"  We  trust  for  the  sake  of  the  Catholic  faith,  and  for 
your  lordship's  own  easement  of  conscience,  that  you 
will  obtain  from  all  the  bishops  a  public  denial  of  the 
charges  made  against  her.  I  am,  my  lord, 

"  Yours  very  respectfully, 

"  MOTHER  M.  EVANGELISTA,  Mother  Provincial. 
"  SISTER  M.  IGNATIUS,  Local  Superior" 


APPENDIX. 


525 


SISTER  MARY  FRANCIS  CLARE  AND  THE  VENERABLE  ARCH- 
DEACON   CAVANAGH. 

308  EAST  BROADWAY  NEW  YORK,  March  31,  1884. 
To  the  Editor  of  the  '  Tuam  Herald.' 

"SiR,  —  I  request  you  will  have  the  goodness  and 
fairness  to  published  the  enclosed  copy  of  a  letter  I 
sent  to  Archdeacon  Cavanagh,  P.  P.,  Knock.  It  speaks 
for  itself.  "  Yours  faithfully, 

"JAMES  ROGERS." 

203  EAST  BROADWAY,  NEW  YORK,  March  21,  1884. 

"  VERY  REV.  AND  DEAR  SIR,  —  So  mortifying  to  me 
is  the  deplorable  treatment  to  which  Rev.  Mother 
M.  Francis  Clare  has  been  subjected,  and  the  pro- 
vokingly  false  reports  circulated,  evidently  to  injure 
her  reputation,  that  I  feel  myself  obliged  to  communi- 
cate with  you." 

"  First,  as  to  the  assertion  that  '  she  ran  away  from 
Knock,  deserting  her  duties ;  that  she  robbed  the  con- 
vent, taking  with  her  the  contributions  sent  solely  for 
Knock  to  be  controlled  by  you  and  not  by  her.'  I 
most  emphatically  wish  to  inform  you  that  all  such 
moneys  sent  from  here  were  sent  to  her  as  testimony  of 
the  esteem  and  affection  in  which  she  is  held  for  her 
efforts  and  services  in  behalf  of  the  Irish  poor  and 
oppressed,  and  in  the  interest  of  religion  and  national- 
ity ;  such  moneys  to  be  distributed  by  her  in  the  relief 
and  education  of  the  Irish  poor,  or  otherwise  in  the  inter- 
ests of  religion  and  charity  as  she  might  think  fit.  If 
testimony,  by  most  respectable  persons  in  America,  in 
proof  of  this  assertion,  by  you  will  be  required,  I  can 
easily  send  it.  It  is  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  public  and 
all  concerned,  except  of  course  her  persecutors  and 
calumniators,  whom  nothing  would  satisfy  except  her 
persecution,  even  to  exile  and,  as  it  would  seem,  at  any 
cost,  even  at  the  cost  of  her  life.  As  to  the  conspir- 


526 


APPENDIX. 


acy,  so  determined,  so  scandalous,  and  so  un-Catholic, 
which  was  planned  against  her,  I  will  here  avoid  allud- 
ing to  it  in  detail,  merely  remarking  as  regards  its  mal- 
ice against  the  welfare  of  Catholicity  in  Ireland,  but 
more  particularly,  against  the  poor,  despised,  oppressed, 
and  exterminated  Catholics  around  Knock,  that  it 
might  be  naturally  alleged  by  any  Irishman  or  Irish- 
woman who  has  preserved  the  faith  of  St.  Patrick  and 
St.  Bridget,  that  its  conception  was  indeed  infernal. 
But  I  will  say  in  conclusion  that  unless  reparation  be 
made  both  for  the  wrongs  and  the  scandalously  lying 
reports  perpetrated,  a  full  and  true  account  shall  be 
given  to  the  public,  indeed  to  the  world,  so  that  all 
may  be  in  possession  of  the  truth  and  may  judge  for 
themselves  as  to  the  motives.  Merciful  God!  How  is 
it  that  by  a  sense  of  duty  and  justice  I  find  myself 
compelled  to  write  such  a  letter  as  this,  especially  to 
you.  I  could  not  indeed,  as  a  Catholic  trust  to  my 
accurate  memory,  nor  to  my  reason,  as  regards  the 
shocking  doings  at  Knock  while  I  was  there  last  July 
to  September,  were  it  not  that  other  strangers  who 
happened  also  to  be  there,  including  priests,  partly 
learned  of  these  doings  also. 

"  I  remain,  very  rev.  and  dear  sir, 

"  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

"JAMES  ROGERS. 
"  VENERABLE  ARCHDEACON  CAVANAGH,  P.P.,  Knock,  Ireland." 

I  give  below  some  specimens  of  the  style  of  corre- 
spondence with  which  I  was  constantly  annoyed  by 
priests. 

I  may  give  an  extract  from  a  letter  addressed  to  me 
by  a  priest  of  the  diocese  of  Cleveland,  O.,  as  a  sample 
of  the  impertinent  interference  to  which  I  have  been 
constantly  subject  from  priests.  It  is  of  course  useless 
for  me  to  ask  protection  from  their  bishops.  Indeed,  these 
attacks  would  not  have  been  made,  unless  the  priest 
knew  that  he  was  safe,  and  would  have  ecclesiastical 
approbation  in  his  unmanly  course.  But  how  sad  it  is 


AfPENDIX.  527 

for  the  Catholic  church  that  priests  should  be  allowed 
to  act  in  this  way  unreproved,  if  not  encouraged  !  The 
document  is  so  much  in  the  style  of  Father  Angus, 
and  is  written  in  the  same  low  tone,  that  if  he  had 
been  in  this  country  I  would  have  supposed  he  had  a 
share  in  the  composition.  I  had  been  writing  a  series 
of  letters  for  the  New  York  Sun,  and  this  had  excited 
this  poor  priest's  mind.  He  writes  :  "  Let  me  give 
you  a  bit  of  advice  :  keep  within  the  quiet  recess  of 
your  cloister,  or  leave  the  cloister  and  then  go  before 
the  public,"  and  so  on  for  page  after  page.  The  poor 
priest  only  showed  his  ignorance,  as  we  have  no  clois- 
ter, and  his  advice  was  only  applicable  to  inclosed 
nuns,  and  as  I  have  shown,  the  Kenmare  sisters,  who 
were  originally  a  cloistered  order,  had  only  a  nominal 
inclosure.  The  fact  of  my  engaging  in  literary  work  is 
the  grievance  with  these  half-educated  priests. 

After  giving  me  a  great  deal  of  low  abuse,  he 
informs  me  if  I  "  write  less,  my  final  account  will  be 
less  difficult  to  render."  This  is  amusing,  considering 
how  many  approbations  of  my  literary  work  I  have  had 
from  the  Holy  ^ee,  but  such  approbations  do  not  count 
with  persons  of  his  class.  Having  settled  my  "  final 
account,"  to  his  own  entire  satisfaction,  he  concludes : 
"  I  shall  write  to  your  bishop,  if  this  note  be  without  its 
intended  effect,"  whether  this  priest  fulfilled  his  threat 
or  not  I  do  not  know,  or  whether  he  consulted  his  own 
bishop. 

I  think  a  letter  like  this  will  show  something  of  the 
kind  of  working  which  must  have  made  the  Inquisition 
such  a  terror  when  it  had  power.  It  would  have  been 
so  easy  for  a  priest  to  whom  any  one  was  obnoxious,  to 
occupy  himself  in  persistent  attacks  on  their  character 
or  orthodoxy,  and  such  accusers  of  the  brethren  always 
pose  as  very  pious  and  very  zealous.  Even  if  the 
bishop  under,  whose  jurisdiction  their  unfortunate 
victims  lived,  was  not  prejudiced  against  them,  he  might 
eventually  bepoine  so  by  constant  irritation,  and  people 
of  this  low  moral  tone  would  have  no  scruple  in  keeping 
up  an  agitation  till  their  end  was  accomplished. 


528 


APPENDIX. 


The  following  is  a  specimen  of  Father  Angus's  style 
of  attack.  In  order  to  appreciate  properly  the  injury 
to  religion  such  persons  can  do  when  allowed  by  their 
bishops  to  annoy  any  person  to  whom  they  have  taken 
a  dislike,  it  should  be  remembered  that  all  these  attacks 
were  published  in  Protestant  papers,  and  to  know  how 
high  party  and  religious  feeling  goes  in  that  country. 
It  is  a  sad  specimen  of  the  charity  of  the  priests  of  the 
church  into  which  these  Protestants  are  so  urgently  in- 
vited to  enter.  No  wonder  that  England  has  not  yet 
been  converted  to  this  faith. 

"  Besides  patronizing  ex-Fenians  and  ticket-of-leave 
convicts,  Archbishop  Crobs  (sic)  has  a  pet  nun.  This 
nun  is  by  birth  a  lady,  but  long  residence  among  per- 
sons who  think  killing  no  murder,  and  robbery  no  crime, 
has  reduced  her  to  a  semi-savage  condition." 

Suppose  that  any  Protestant  clergyman  had  been 
guilty  of  such  an  outrage  as  to  send  a  paragraph  like 
this  to  the  press  about  any  Roman  Catholic  lady,  and 
to  persist  in  this  style  of  attack,  what  an  outcry  there 
would  be  on  the  part  of  the  Roman  Catholic  press  and 
priests. 

Here'  is  another  specimen  of  priestly  amenities,  and 
of  the  style  of  attacks  made  on  me  by  Roman  Catholic 
priests.  The  writer  has  at  least  the  honesty  to  sign 
his  name  to  his  attack  ;  if  he  only  had  the  charity  to 
ask  if  these  charges  were  true  before  he  made  them,  it 
would  have  been  so  much  better  for  religion  and  for 
his  sacred  character.  He  says,  "  Will  any  one  at  this 
late  day  number  among  claimants  for  charity  that  reli- 
gious Pooh-Bah-political-economist  (sic)  hagiographer, 
young  girls'  adviser,  pamphleter,  mistress  of  novices, 
historian,  beggar,  and  nun,  who  for  twenty  years 
and  more,  both  in  Ireland  and  America,  has  been  an 
irrepressible  begging  nuisance  ?  Will  any  one  in  his 
right  mind  give  her  more  money  to  squander,  after  the 
monument  of  folly  she  has  left  at  Knock  ?  " 


APPENDIX. 


529 


Then  after  a  long  attack  on  "  church  beggars "  who 
set  the  church  at  defiance,  he  concludes  his  charge,  and 
yet  one-half  hour's  careful  inquiry  would  have  informed 
him  who  was  to  blame  for  "  the  monument  of  folly,"  at 
Knock." 

CARE   ON    MY    PART     NOT   TO     MAKE    ANY    EXPOSURE   OF 
THE   WAY    I    WAS    TREATED  BY    ECCLESIASTICS. 

Before  going  to  Rome,  I  wrote  a  letter  to  the  press. 
I  was  obliged  to  say  that  I  had  left  Knock,  but  I 
merely  said  that  I  was  obliged  to  do  so  under  circum- 
stances to  which  I  would  not  allude  farther.  I  little 
thought  how  my  care  not  to  blame  those  whom  I  might 
most  justly  have  blamed  would  be  repaid.  Before  I 
came  to  America,  I  was  told  that  I  was  likely  to  meet 
opposition  from  some  section  of  the  press.  In 
August,  1884,  a  friend  wrote  to  me  :  "  Much  dissatis- 
faction exists  amongst  those  in  America  who  have 
helped  you  about  Knock.  They  are  asking:  Will  you 
return  to  Knock  ?  Will  you  complete  the  building  ? 
Priests,  as  well  as  others,  have  commented  unfavorably 
on  you.  Such  criticisms,  I  need  not  say,  are  owing  to 
ignorance  of  the  causes  which  caused  you  to  leave." 
And  still  knowing  all  this  I  was  silent,  hoping  that  the 
decision  of  the  Holy  Father  would  silence  every  com- 
plaint. "  I  will,  if  you  give  me  permission,  set  you 
right  before  the  public.  A  correct  statement  of  the  per- 
secutions you  were  subject  to  could  not  but  excite  for 
you  the  sympathies  of  the  Irish  in  America."  And  yet 
I  would  not  allow  a  word  to  be  said.  How  little  I 
could  have  suspected,  while  I  hept  silence,  that  those 
who  were  anxious  to  prevent  the  success  of  my  work, 
were  all  the  time  talking  and  writing  against  me,  and 
the  same  gentleman  writes  later,  "  the  work  you 
effected  in  three  short  months  at  Knock  was  mar- 
vellous, and  would  be  incredible  to  me  if  I  had  not 
seen  it."  In  another  letter  he  says :  "  There  are 
many  here  who  think  that  a  petition  should  be  sent  to 


530 


APPENDIX. 


Propaganda  to  demand  the  restoration  of  the  funds 
subscribed  for  Knock,  so  that  you  might  carry  out  the 
work  elsewhere.  Some  of  the  so-called  patriots  I 
know  did  not  like  you.  They  were  jealous  of  your 
success,  and  of  the  large  funds  you  were  getting.  One 

of  these  is he  is  the  editor  of ,  he  is  suspected 

by  all  who  know  his  true  character.  Another  is  the 

editor  of  the  New  York ,  who,  though  he  is  the 

editor  of  a  leading  Catholic  paper,  and  high  in  eccle- 
siastical confidence,  is  a  notorious  drunkard.  He  says 
that  he  has  had  a  large  correspondence  from  Ireland 
all  against  you." 

The  following  will  show  how  the  bishops  themselves 
proposed  a  plan  very  similar  to  mine  to  help  emi- 
grants ;  yet  they  would  not  allow  it  when  it  was  pro- 
posed by  me. 

Lady  Strangford's  idea  was  mine,  to  prepare  people 
for  emigration. 


THE  BISHOP  OF  SALFORD  ON  EMIGRATION.  —  At  a  meeting  at 
Manchester,  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Colonial  Emigra- 
tion Society,  the  following  letter  from  the  Bishop  of  Salford  was 
read  :  '  As  I  shall  be  unable  to  attend  the  meeting,  I  write  to  urge 
the  extreme  importance  of  collecting  from  the  colonies  definite 
and  satisfactory  information  as  to  the  actual  prospects  in  different 
localities  for  emigrants.  General  statements  can  be  got  in  abun- 
dance—  statements  diametrically  opposite  to  one  another  from 
the  same  colony.  They  are  most  unsatisfactory  to  those  inter- 
ested in  emigration  and  to  the  emigrants  themselves.  They  are 
usually  mischievous  and  misleading.  The  need  is  information 
from  respectable  and  trustworthy  persons  settled  in  various  parts 
of  a  colony,  stating  the  prospects  of  work  which  exist  for  a  cer- 
tain number  of  new  hands;  the  particular  difficulties  they  would 
have  to  encounter;  the  price  of  living,  and  the  prospect  of  an  in- 
creasing demand  for  labor.  The  kind  of  hands  that  are  most 
needed  should  be  specified,  and  the  chances  there  may  be  of  re- 
munerative employment  for  women.  Many  emigration  societies 
seem  to  make  it  their  chief  business  to  ship  off  as  many  people  as 
they  can,  careless  of  the  consequences  abroad.  The  kind  of  soci- 
ety I  wish  to  see  is  one  that  will  carefully  deal  with  individuals  — 
with  individuals  in  the  colonies,  whether  employers  of  labor  or 
not,  and  individuals  at  home,  who  shall  be  put  into  direct  relations 
with  persons  who  will  be  interested  in  them  when  they  reach  the 


APPENDIX.  531 

district  to  which  they  may  be  recommended  to  go.  I  have  myself 
seen  so  much  of  the  suffering  caused  by  wholesale  emigration 
both  in  South  and  North  America,  that  I  feel  strongly  the  urgent 
need  of  a  nice,  painstaking,  and  conscientious  society  that  will 
deal  with  men  as  individual  units,  and  will  act  towards  them  as 
prudent  parents  act  by  their  own  children  when  they  arrange  for 
them  to  quit  the  mother  country. 

Miss  Faithfull  observed  that  the  bishop  had  indicated  the  very 
course  hitherto  pursued  by  the  Colonial  Emigration  Society,  and 
referred  to  a  letter  from  the  Vice-President,  Lady  Strangford,  urg- 
ing the  Manchester  Committee  "  to  send  one  well-chosen,  well- 
provided,  well-trained  emigrant,  rather  than  a  score  of  useless 
people." 


PART   VI. 

The  Troubled  Life  of  the  Foundress  of  the  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame. 

THE    TROUBLED    LIFE    OF    THE    FOUNDRESS    OF    THE   SIS- 
TERS  OF    NOTRE   DAME. 

THE  "Life  of  Mother  Julia,"  the  foundress  of  the 
order  of  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame,  is  an  excellent  example 
of  the  history  of  the  founders  of  religious  orders  in  the 
Roman  Catholic  church.  How  little  Protestants  who 
speak  in  rapt  admiration  of  the  work  of  these  sisters 
know  of  the  way  in  which  they  are  treated  and  perse- 
cuted by  their  ecclesiastical  superiors. 

It  is  a  curious  and  an  interesting  episode  in  ecclesi- 
astical history,  if  it  is  not  a  very  edifying  one.  When 
religious  orders  are  well  established,  not  because  of 
ecclesiastical  help,  but  in  spite  of  ecclesiastical  opposi- 
tion, bishops  take  great  credit  to  themselves,  and  point 
to  these  institutions  proudly,  as  an  evidence  of  the 
sanctity  and  the  great  good  to  mankind  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  church.  They  are,  in  fact,  evidences  of  the 
triumph  of  good  over  evil,  and  of  the  indomitable 
energy  of  the  founders  in  persevering  under  the  most 
discouraging  circumstances. 

The  bishops  identify  themselves  with  the  church  and 


532  APPENDIX. 

claim  all  the  honor  and  glory  of  success.  The  infalli- 
ble "we"  covers  a  multitude  of  sins,  and  crowns  the 
episcopacy  with  a  fictitious  halo  of  sanctity.  The  fact 
is,  that  if  the  inside  history  of  Roman  Catholic  reli- 
gious houses  was  known  it  would  be  seen  how  very 
little  ecclesiastics  had  to  do  with  their  success  or  en- 
couragement. 

I  know  these  will  be  considered  startling  assertions, 
but  the  question  is,  are  they  true  or  false  ?  —  the  proof  is 
easily  attainable.  Naturally,  there  is  a  very  great  diffi- 
culty at  getting  at  facts  under  such  circumstances,  as 
it  is  practically  contrary  to  ecclesiastical  rule  to  men- 
tion anything  that  is  discreditable  to  religious  supe- 
riors ;  still  facts  do  come  out  sometimes,  and  the  facts 
which  do  come  out,  evidently  show  how  much  remains 
concealed. 

Let  us  take  a  case  before  the  public  well  in  point  on 
this  subject.  Every  one  knows  what  the  penalty  was 
the  Rev.  Father  Curran  had  to  pay  because  he  told 
the  truth  publicly  about  Vicar-General  Donnelly's  treat- 
ment of  Dr.  McGlynn.  When  ordered  to  do  penance 
for  speaking  out,  he  did  the  penance,  but  he  did  not 
deny  the  fact.  Imagine  punishing  a  man  for  simply 
telling  the  truth.  No  priest  and  no  sister  dare  to  tell 
the  truth  frankly  about  any  injustice  practised  by  a 
bishop.  And  what  is  the  consequence  ?  evil  is  con- 
cealed, but  it  is  not  destroyed  ;  the  keen  knife  that  would 
cut  open  the  sore  and  let  it  run  and  heal  would  be 
infinitely  better;  but  this  cannot  be  done  so  long  as  it 
is  considered  "a  sin  against  the  church"  to  say  one 
word  of  the  sins  of  the  children  of  the  church.  It 
would  be  quite  as  true  to  say  it  was  a  sin  against  the 
government  to  denounce  evil. 

The  lives  of  the  saints,  whether  founders  of  religious 
orders  or  otherwise,  are  always  carefully  revised  and 
re-revised  by  ecclesiastical  authority ;  I  doubt  if  a  sin- 
gle honest  life  of  a  saint  has  ever  been  written,  and  I 
remember  seeing  regret  expressed  by  an  English  Cath- 
olic author  on  this  subject.  How  much  better  and 


APPENDIX.  533 

how  much  more  edifying  it  would  be  to  tell  the  whole 
truth. 

The  "  Life  of  Mother  Julia "  the  foundress  of  the 
order  of  the  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame,  is  a  very  remarka- 
ble volume;  how  so  much  truth  has  come  to  be  told  I 
do  not  know,'  but  her  life  history  is  one  long  record  of 
persecution  and  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  authori- 
ties of  that  very  church  which  now  applauds  her  and 
her  sisters  with  such  warmth  and  fervor. 

One  wonders  how  any  one  could  have  had  the  heart 
to  treat  her  as  she  was  treated,  when  her  sole  object 
was  to  work  for  the  good  of  the  poor.  She  went  from 
place  to  place  trying  to  please  those  who  could  only  be 
pleased  by  seeing  her  driven  away,  and  her  work  too 
often  was  begun  only  to  be  abandoned. 

No  doubt  her  life  was  like  the  life  of  our  Lord,  but 
that  did  not  make  it  less  suffering  to  herself,  or  more 
creditable  to  those  who  made  her  suffer.  We  are  told 
in  her  biography  that  the  longest  time  she  was  ever  in 
one  place  was  three  months. 

Again  and  again  we  find  the  most  unreasoning  and 
unmeaning  opposition  to  her  work,  and  the  poor  little 
souls  she  was  trying  to  save  left  to  perish.  Certainly, 
there  was  terrible  responsibility  somewhere  for  the 
hindrance  of  good  works. 

In  one  letter,  writing  to  her  spiritual  children,  she 
says,  — 

"The  devil  of  course  places  every  obstacle  in  our 
way."  It  seems  to  me  that  it  was  some  very  human 
devils  who  were  guilty.  In  one  of  her  frequent  jour- 
neys she  went  to  Flanders  to  endeavor  to  spread  her 
order  —  she  was  asked  to  do  this  by  a  priest  who 
offered  to  accompany  her,  but  this  was  at  once  op- 
posed by  the  confessor  of  the  house,  a  distinguished 
ecclesiastic,  and  the  bishop's  favorite,  who  wished  to 
thrust  his  own  private  views  at  all  hazards  on  the  house." 

"This  opposition  was  only  the  first  link  in  a  long 
chain  of  annoyances  which  God  made  use  of  for  his 
own  designs."  "Life  of  Mother  Julia"  p.  84. 


534 


APPENDIX. 


It  is  amusing  to  see  the  way  in  which  the  opposition 
of  ignorant  or  malicious  persons  is  spoken  of  as  if  it 
was  "  the  design  of  God."  These  are  certainly  not 
the  designs  of  God,  but  they  may  be  overruled  by  him 
for  his  greater  glory  ;  and  it  is  better  to  call  things  by 
their  plain  names  ;  opposition  to  good  is  sin,  no  matter 
by  whom  it  may  be  accomplished.  We  have  no  right 
to  compliment  the  creature  at  the  expense  of  the 
creator. 

When  sin  is  approved,  or  treated  delicately  because 
the  guilty  person  is  in  a  position  of  influence  or  power, 
it  does  not  lessen  the  guilt  of  the  actor  or  of  those  who 
condone  the  action.  It  would  be  necessary  to  read 
the  "  Life  of  Mother  Julia  "  from  end  to  end  to  know 
her  sufferings,  all  of  which  were  caused  by  priests. 
The  life  tells  so  much  honest  truth  that  it  is  a  marvel 
it  has  not  found  a  place  on  the  Index  long  since.  At 
page  1 06  we  read,  — 


"  She  also  took  advantage  of  the  opportunity  to  consult  Father 
Leblanc  on  several  points  respecting  the  internal  affairs  of  the 
community,  about  which  their  confessor  did  not  always  agree  with 
the  Rev.  Father  Varin.  God  permitted  this  to  be  so,  for  the  sanc- 
tification  of  his  faithful  servant.  In  fact,  nothing  was  more  pain- 
ful to  her  than  the  opposition  she  was  obliged  to  manifest  to  the 
wishes  of  those  whom  faith  made  her  regard  as  the  servants  of 
God  upon  earth.  No  other  cross  had  ever  weighed  so  heavily 
on  her  soul.  And  it  seemed  as  if  their  confessor  had  been  ap- 
pointed expressly  to  make  her  drink  this  chalice  of  bitterness  to 
the  very  dregs.  He  only  labored  to  guide  the  institute  in  another 
path  from  that  originally  marked  out  for  it.  He  did  not  wish  any 
mother-general,  or  any  relation  of  the  secondary  houses  with  the 
mother  house  or  any  visits  from  the  first  superior,  and  his  efforts 
aimed  constantly  at  the  removal  of  the  foundress. 

"  Unfortunately,  this  ecclesiastic  was  of  a  difficult,  scheming  dis- 
position. .  .  and,  under  the  pretext  of  perfecting  the  work  of  an- 
other, he  made  innovations  that  tended  to  entirely  pervert  the 
primitive  object  of  these  institutions.  He  changed  the  constitu- 
tions ;  Mother  Barat  was  sent  into  the  country,  and  Mother  Julia 
denounced  to  the  episcopal  authority  as  incapable  of  governing. 
Consequently,  she  was  ordered  to  give  up  her  charge,  and,  soon 
after,  to  leave  the  diocese." 


APPENDIX. 


535 


And  what  was  the  cause  of  all  this  persecution  ? 
Why  was  she  to  leave  the  diocese  ?  Why  was  she  to 
leave  her  God-given  position  as  foundress  of  the  order  ? 
Was  she  guilty  of  any  crime  ?  Had  she  committed  any 
act  of  injustice  ?  It  is  sad  reading  ;  how  much  good 
she  could  have  done  in  those  months  in  which  she  was 
deprived  of  the  very  physical  power  to  rule,  by  the 
harassing  anxiety  and  cares  caused  by  the  opponents 
of  her  work  ?  How  much  time  was  occupied  in  corres- 
pondence, and  in  consultation,  and  in  trying  to  please 
those  who  were  determined  not  to  be  pleased,  which 
might  have  been  spent  in  earnest  work  for  God  and 
souls. 

Yet,  in  spite  of  all,  her  order  has  succeeded  and  pros- 
pered, and  who  will  be  most  honored  in  connection  with 
it  on  the  last  day  ?  Those  who  helped  and  comforted 
the  foundress  in  her  weary  work,  for  weary  it  was,  even 
at  the  times  when  she  had  most  exterior  help,  or  those 
who  opposed,  injured,  or  discouraged  it  ? 

On  one  occasion  she  wrote  to  the  sisters,    (page  109) 

"  I  feel  like  going  all  over  the  world  to  snatch  these 
poor  young  creatures  from  the  adversary,  and  teach 
them  the  value  of  the  soul." 

This  was  her  work,  and  this  was  the  work  which  so 
many  bishops  were  so  anxious  to  prevent  her  from  doing. 
The  Bishop  of  Amiens  having  treated  Mother  Julia  with 
great  injustice,  sent  his  own  account  of  what  had  passed 
to  the  Bishop  of  Namur.  When  she  presented  herself 
at  the  bishop's  residence,  he  received  her  coldly  and 
said  he  did  not  invite  her,  and  began  to  tell  her  how 
people  who  had  been  famous  for  sanctity  had  been 
damned  for  disobedience,  with  other  cheerful  informa- 
tion, and  blamed  her  for  coming  without  informing  him 
of  her  intention.  This  was  not  true,  as  he  found  subse- 
quently, but  what  did  it  matter  ?  One  bishop  was  de- 
sirous of  pleasing  the  other,  and  Mother  Julia  was  the 
victim. 

Eventually,  the  bishop  found  that  he  had  wronged 
Mother  Julia,  but  he  does  not  seem  to  have  had  the 


536  APPENDIX. 

grace  to  make  any  reparation.  Her  biographer  says,  — 
"  With  a  delicate  conscience,  she  was  obliged  to  resist 
respectable  authority  and  constantly  needed  for  her 
peace  of  mind  a  counterpoise  of  greater  weight  which 
would  clearly  manifest  the  will  of  God,  and  sustain  the 
work  to  which  she  had  consecrated  her  property  and 
her  life." 

An  attempt  was  then  made  to  make  trouble  between 
herself  and  the  sisters.  They  were  told  that  Mother 
Julia's  course  was  one  of  illusion  and  disobedience  ; 
but  these  attempts  were  entirely  unsuccessful,  as  the 
sisters  always  remained  devoted  to  her. 


PART   VII. 

Extracts  from  Letters  from  the  Sisters  to  Sister  M.  Francis  Clare. 

LETTERS  of  sympathy  from  the  sisters  of  England 
while  I  was  ill  in  Washington  : 

During  my  severe  illness  at  Washington  I  received  the 
following  letter  from  one  of  the  sisters  in  England, 
who  knew  perhaps  more  than  any  other  all  I  had 
suffered  from  hindrances  to  my  work  and  deliberate 
calumny : 

"CONVENT  OF  THE  SACRED  HEART, 
NOTTINGHAM,  May  7,  1886. 

"  DEAREST  REVEREND  MOTHER,  — We  are  in  a  most 
nnxious  state  of  mind,  having  just  received  a  letter 
from  Mr.  F that  you  are  in  a  hospital  in  Washing- 
ton and  dangerously  ill.  I  might  easily  know  that 
something  serious  was  the  matter,  you  could  not  bear 
up  any  longer.  Oh,  cruel,  cruel  apostles  of  to-day, 
how  unlike  to  the  spirit  of  the  first  apostles  !  If  there 
is  anything  objectionable  in  the  Order  of  Peace,  why 
not  say  so,  and  have  it  made  right,  and  if  there  is  not, 
why  do  they  not  help  a  work  that  has  the  authority  of 
the  Holy  See,  and  has  for  its  sole  object  the  glory  of 


APPENDIX. 


537 


God  and  the  salvation  of  souls  ?     Mr.  F tells  us 

you  have  a  good  doctor  that  is  a  consolation ;  but 
Mother  I  do  not  expect  that  you  will  ever  be  free  from 
suffering  in  this  life.  The  sisters  are  all  very  grieved 
for  your  suffering.  You  will  be  comforted  to  get  a 
line  of  sympathy  from  each  of  your  loving  children  on 
this  side.  I  fear  to  tell  the  poor  sisters  in  Grimsby, 
they  will  be  so  grieved  I  will  wait  until  I  hear  again. 

Sister  A is  better.     Ever  your  loving  child, 

"  Ev." 

Extracts  from  some  letters  written  to  me  by  the 
sisters  when  I  was  obliged  to  go  to  Dublin  in 
November,  1883,  and  was  so  hopeless  of  getting  the 
Archbishop  of  Tuam  to  do  us  justice. 

Sister  M writes,  — 

"  MY  OWN  DEAREST  REV.  MOTHER,  —  Alas  what  can 
I  say  to  comfort  your  sad  heart.  We  can  only  cry  out 
with  Jesus,  abandoned  on  the  cross,  '  My  God,  My  God, 
why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ? '  It  is  the  saddest  of  all 
to  think  that  we  are  not  able  in  any  way  to  alleviate 
your  heavy  sorrows,  my  own  dearest  mother.  We  are 
all  so  thankful  to  Father  Gaffney  for  all  his  great  kind- 
ness to  you." 

Sister  M R writes,  — 

"  It  is  impossible  for  you  to  be  well,  when  you  have 
so  much  to  suffer.  Dearest  mother,  do  not  be  uneasy 
about  us,  we  are  doing  our  best.  We  had  the  life  of 
St.  Gertrude  read  at  dinner  to-day.  It  is  very  cold.  I 
hope  the  frost  will  not  injure  your  throat.  I  cannot  tell 
you  how  grieved  we  were  when  we  heard  of  your 
serious  illness.  I  beg  of  you  not  to  be  the  least  uneasy 
about  us.  You  would  be  comforted  if  you  saw  how 
well  each  sister  is  performing  her  duty,  as  if  nothing 
had  occurred  to  cause  us  pain,  and  you  know  all  that 

we  are  suffering.     Sister  M J is  as  prudent  as 

if  she  had  been  a  sister  for  twenty  years,  and  Sister 


538  APPENDIX. 

M E is  as  busy  as  ever  in  the  schools ;   every 

observance  is  kept  as  regularly  as  if  you  were  here." 

The  sisters  knew  well  that  they  could  tell  me  nothing 
that  would  give  me  so  much  pleasure  as  this.  I  worked 
so  long  and  earnestly  to  teach  them  to  love  regular  reli- 
gious observance. 

Another  sister  writes,  — 

"  Do  not  be  anxious  about  us,  dearest  reverend 
mother.  Each  individual  sistt  r  performs  her  regular 
duties  with  the  greatest  possible  exactness,  and  all  your 
councils  are  and  shall  be  carried  out  to  the  letter,  and 
the  spirit  of  the  letter."  The  sister  then  tells  me  how 
the  school  has  been  injured  by  an  outbreak  of  measles, 
knowing  that  next  to  the  perfection  of  the  sisters,  this 
was  nearest  to  my  heart. 

When  I  have  read  these  dear  letters,  I  have  thought 
how  often  and  how  falsely  the  charge  of  being  indiffer- 
ent to  the  sisters'  perfection  in  the  religious  life  was 
brought  against  me,  and  believed  by  those  who  had  an 
object  in  believing  it.  The  sisters'  letters,  and  still 
more  their  lives,  are  the  best  evidence  of  the  teaching 
which  they  received. 

In  a  letter  dated  Nov.  18,  1883,  in  reply  to  one  of 
mine  in  which  I  had  to  tell  the  sisters  how  little  hope 
there  seemed  of  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam  doing  us  any 
justice,  Sister  M E writes, — 

"  MY  OWN  DEAREST  MOTHER,  —  With  a  breaking 
heart  we  all  read  over  Sister  J 's  letter  this  morn- 
ing ;  Oh,  good  God,  was  there  ever,  since  our  divine 
Lord,  who  trod  the  winepress  alone,  any  suffering  or 
abandonment  like  that  which  you  now  endure.  Would 
to  God  that  my  life,  accompanied  by  every  kind  of  suf- 
fering, would  be  acceptable  to  the  Divine  Majesty,  and 
spare  you,  dearest  mother,  to  accomplish  his  own  work. 
T  have  already  made  the  offering  before  the  tabernacle, 
if  it  is  His  divine  will,  I  can  say  no  more. 


APPEATDIX. 


539 


"  You  know  all  we  feel.  We  shall  not  sleep  much  to- 
night. Surely  the  archbishop,  knowing  the  great  charge 
intrusted  to  him,  will  remember  the  account  he  will 
have  to  render  at  the  great  tribunal.  Oh  dear  and  de- 
deserted  mother,  try  and  keep  up,  for  the  sake  of  the 
poor  faithful  youth  of  Ireland.  Surely  our  good  God 
will  not  take  you  away  from  them  in,  I  might  say,  the 
beginning  of  your  labors.  I  am,  my  own  dear  and  suf- 
fering mother, 

"  Your  devoted  and  afflicted  child 
"  Sister  M E ." 

It  will  be  seen  from  these  letters  how  dear  this  work 
at  Knock  was  to  us  all. 

I  shall  only  add  here  two  letters  from  Father  Gaffney, 
out  of  many,  showing  his  interest  in  our  work,  and  his 
sympathy  in  our  trials.  These  letters  were  both  writ- 
ten to  me  after  I  had  got  the  archbishop's  consent  to 
go  to  England  to  consult  Cardinal  Manning. 

"  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER'S,  DUBLIN, 
"  Dec.  13,  1883. 

"  I  was  very  glad  to  hear  from  you  this  morning  as  I 
was  very  anxious  to  know  how  you  were  getting  on 
amidst  the  troubled  waters  with  which  you  are  sur- 
rounded, for  surely  you  are  at  present  on  a  more  tem- 
pestuous sea  than  when  you  were  crossing  the  stormy 
channel  a  few  days  ago. 

"  I  trust  that  your  courage  and  prudence,  and  above 
all,  the  protecting  hand  of  God,  will  bring  you  safely 
through  all  your  difficulties.  I  am  writing  by  this  post 
to  Sister  Mary  Joseph  at  Knock,  to  encourage  and  con- 
sole them  for  your  absence.  Your  faithful  children  at 
Knock  are  very  good,  and  deserve  great  praise  and  con- 
sideration. I  hope  soon  to  hear  that  the  horizon  is 
clearing  before  you,  and  that  yet  all  will  be  bright  and 
glorious  sunshine. 

"  Ever  yours  very  sincerely  in  Christ, 

"  J.  GAFFNEY,  S.  J." 


540 


APPENDIX. 


The  following  letter  from  the  same  dear  friend  who 
had  been  the  eyewitness  of  our  trials  and  difficulties  at 
Knock,  and,  I  may  add,  of  the  virtues  and  religious  ob- 
servances of  the  sisters,  was  written  a  few  days  later 
when  I  was  able  to  give  him  the  good  news  that  we  had 
found  a  shelter  and  friends  in  England. 

* 

"  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER'S,  DUBLIN, 
"  Dec.  20,  1883. 

"  DEAR  REV.  MOTHER,  —  How  wonderful  are  the  ways 
of  God  was  my  first  thought  on  reading  your  letter  this 
morning,  and  the  inclosed  letters  which  it  contained, 
and  how  different  often  are  his  thoughts  from  ours. 
The  prospect  which  these  letters  open  out  before  my 
imagination  are  truly  grand  and  magnificent." 

After  writing  of  some  private  affairs  of  the  sisters,  he 
concludes, — 

"  You   will    read   with   pleasure   the   inclosed   from 

Sister  M J ;  what  a  devoted  little  community 

you  have  !     I   shall    be  very  happy  to  hear  soon  and 
often  from  you.     Yours  faithfully  in  Christ, 

"  J.  GAFFiVEY,  S.  J." 

"  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER'S,  UPPER  GARDINER  STREET, 
DUBLIN,  April  5,  1*584. 

"  DEAR  REV.  MOTHER,  —  Your  letter  of  last  Monday, 
which  I  received  yesterday  evening,  has  given  me  great 
pleasure,  as  you  may  well  understand,  and  I  lose  no 
time  in  writing  to  compliment  you  most  sincerely  on 
the  great  success  of  your  visit  to  the  Eternal  city. 
This  will  be  a  bright  page  in  your  eventful  and  che- 
quered life ;  you  .jvill  be  able  now  to  go  cheerfully  to 
work,  and  the  great  troubles  you  have  gone  through 
will  soon  be  forgotten,  or  will  only  serve  to  make  you 
more  confident  in  the  protection  of  heaven.  You  have 
already  achieved  a  good  deal,  but  there  remains  still  a 
good  deal  to  be  done ;  the  foundations  are  now  laid, 


APPENDIX. 


541 


but  the  building  is  to  be  raised,  and  I  trust  that  the 
Order  of  Peace  will  before  long  become  well  known, 
and  bear  glorious  fruits  worthy  of  the  happy  title  and 
name  under  which  it  appears  before  the  world.  With 
many  others  I  shall  watch  with  the  deepest  interest  the 
progress  of  this  new  promising  child  of  the  Church. 

"What  happy  and  holy  ^memories  will  be  treasured 
up  by  the  successful  visit  to  Rome. 

"With  best  wishes  and  most  frequent  prayers  for 
your  safe  return  and  great  success. 

"  Yours  very  faithfully, 
"  J.  GAFFNEY,  S.'  J." 

The  following  letter  will  show  how  necessary  our 
work  was  for.  English  Roman  Catholics. 

"  130  WILSON  STREET,  ST.  HELEN'S,  LANCASHIRE, 

"Sept.  3,  1884. 
"  SISTER  MARY  FRANCIS  CLARE  : 

"  DEAR  MADAM,  —  Allow  me,  with  all  due  deference 
and  respect,  to  congratulate  you  upon  your  arrival  here 
in  England.  You  are  the  very  lady  we  want  to  help  us 
in  this  land  of  heresy.  Protestantism  and  Infidelity 
this  last  three  hundred  years  have  been  pretty  success- 
ful in  driving  our  Catholic  people  to  the  lowest  depths 
of  misery  and  degradation,  by  depriving  us  of  our  useful 
guides  for  the  laity  :  the  monks,  and  the  nuns. 

"  I  see  your  new  order  in  the  church  proposes  to  teach 
young  women  household  duties ;  the  very  thing  they 
want.  My  experience  of  five  years'  visiting  among  our 
people,  by  order  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers  of  St.  Helens, 
convinces  me  you  are  taking  the  bull  by  the  horns,  so 
to  speak,  in  endeavoring  to  teach  our  Catholic  young 
women  their  household  duties.  Many  a  house  I  have 
visited,  and  I  have  seen  dinners  prepared  for  men  who 
have  to  work  before  red-hot  furnaces,  and  breathing 
impure  air  from  morning  until  night,  and  these  said 
dinners  were  only  fit  to  be  given  to  the  brute  creation. 
The  result  of  this  bad  cooking  is,  the  men  want  strength 


542 


APPENDIX. 


to  follow  their  employment,  the  food  they  get  is  insuffi- 
cient, and  they  have  recourse  to  drink ;  and  the  pay-days 
in  place  of  going  home,  or  into  a  refreshment  room  to 
have  some  dinner  or  a  cup  of  coffee,  it  is  into  the  public 
house  they  go,  and  having  drink  upon  an  empty  stomach, 
they  are  drunk  and  incapable,  directly  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  police,  and  g^t  fined  very  often  and  very 
heavily. 

"  Dear  sister,  I  am  giving  you  a  true  statement  of  what 
is  constantly  occurring  among  a  Catholic  population  of 
20,000  people.  Well,  it  is  quite  time  some  charitably- 
disposed  individual  or  individuals,  under  the  patronage 
of  the  holy  church,  should  come  to  help  and  to  guide 
our  poor  Catholic  young  women ;  for  by  a  young  man 
getting  an  ignorant  wife,  he  becomes  a  careless  Cath- 
olic, and  unless  he  is  very  careful  he  will  fall  into  the 
snares  of  infidelity;  for  it  is  my  firm  conviction,  the 
devil  is  more  busy,  ten  thousand  times,  with  Catholics 
than  he  is  with  Protestants,  alias  Infidels. 

"I  am  thankful  to  Almighty  God  and  his  Blessed 
Mother,  you  have  come  into  England  to  found  a  really 
useful  class  of  women.  I  sincerely  hope  you  may- 
have  branch  houses  in  Manchester,  Liverpool,  Birming- 
ham, London,  Edinburgh,  Glasgow,  and  Dublin,  by  the 
end  of  ten  years,  for  these  are  some  of  the  principal 
cities  of  the  kingdom  which  is  crying  out  for  help." 

[As  the  signature  to  this  letter  might  bring  the  writer 
into  trouble,  I  do  not  append  it.  I  may  say,  however, 
it  is  only  one  of  many  letters  which  I  have  received,  on 
the  same  subject.  The  people  have  always  wished  for 
our  work.  It  has  been  opposed  and  discouraged  only 
by  the  bishops.] 

PAPER     READ    AT    THE    SOCIAL     SCIENCE    CONGRESS,     ON 
EMIGRATION. 

A  meeting  of  the  Social  Science  Congress  was  held 
in  Dublin  in  1881,  at  which  a  paper  which  I  wrote, 
called,  "  Education  as  a  Preparation  for  Emigration," 


APPENDIX. 


543 


was  read  by  Dr.  Mapother,  President  of  the  Royal 
College  of  Surgeons.  As  this  paper  is  far  too  long  to 
publish  here,  I  only  allude  to  it  to  show  that  I  have 
been  actively  interested  in  the  question  of  emigration 
for  many  years.  In  this  paper  I  advocated  the  estab- 
lishment of  special  institutions  in  Ireland,  to  prepare 
girls  for  emigration.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  those 
ecclesiastics  who  were  opposed  to  my  work  found  an 
ingenious  method  of  injuring  it,  and  the  same  plan  was 
tried  in  New  York,  showing  how  truly  the  Irish  are  too 
often  their  own  worst  enemies.  It  was  suggested  that 
the  girls  did  not  want  any  teaching,  that  they  had  got 
on  very  well  without  it  for  years,  and  it  was  made 
appear  as  if  I  was  lowering  the  character  of  the 
Irish  people  by  even  suggesting  that  they  needed 
any  teaching.  This  style  of  talking  was  not  without  its 
effect  on  those  who  needed  teaching  most.  Certainly, 
it  is  a  credit  to  the  many  Irish  girls  that  have  come  to 
this  country,  that  they  have  done  so  well  under  so  many 
disadvantages,  but  what  of  the  thousands  who  have 
been  lost,  and  who  might  have  been  saved,  or  who  have 
not  done  so  well  ?  I  give  here  a  brief  extract  from 
my  address, — 

"  To  give  our  people  a  general  knowledge  of  the  agricultural  and 
commercial  conditions  of  lands  where  emigrants  are  most  needed, 
and  will  be  most  welcome,  would  be  a  most  important  element  in 
their  course  of  study,  so  that  we  may  no  longer  find  that  kind  of 
haphazard  emigration  which  is  indicated  when  you  ask  a  boy  or 
girl  why  they  are  leaving  their  native  land,  and  get  the  reply,  '  to 
better  myself,' when  the  speaker  has  not  the  least  idea  of  how  the 
"  bettering  "  is  to  be  accomplished.  I  do  not  touch  here  on  the 
all-important  point  of  protection  for  girls  going  to  a  distant  land. 
During  the  last  28  years,  2,637,000  of  our  people  have  left  Ireland 
for  other  shores.  How  many  of  these  men  and  women,  boys,  and 
girls,  have  sunk  down  by  the  wayside  in  despair,  or  sunk  down 
into  the  slums  of  great  cities  living  a  miserable  existence,  can  only 
be  known  by  those  who  have  taken  a  practical  interest  in  emi- 
grants, or  had  exceptional  means  of  ascertaining  their  state  in 
their  new  homes.  How  much  of  this  evil  might  have  been  averted 
if  these  emigrants  had  had  the  benefits  of  advice  and  a  guiding 
hand  —  if  they  had  gone  with  a  special  object  to  a  special  place, 
instead  of  going  in  a  '  happy-go-lucky '  fashion,  too  often  a  most 
unlucky  one." 


544  APPENDIX. 

REPORT   OF    PUBLIC    MEETING   AT    NOTTINGHAM. 

In  September,  1884,  Bishop  Bagshawe  held  a  public 
meeting  at  Nottingham,  which  was  attended  by  all  the 
neighboring  clergy.  His  object  was  the  kind  one  of 
trying  to  place  the  facts  of  my  life  before  the  public, 
so  that  the  malicious  reports  which  had  been  in  cir- 
culation should  have  been  silenced  for  ever.  But 
while  there  were  priests  or  laymen  who  really  were 
determined  to  circulate  statements  which  they  knew 
perfectly  well  to  be  false,  any  effort  to  silence  them  was 
mere  waste  of  time  ;  still  it  was  difficult  for  an  honorable 
man  like  Bishop  Bagshawe  to  realize  that  there  could 
be  such  people,  especially  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
church,  where  the  sin  of  detraction  is  so  strongly  de- 
nounced, and  where  lying  and  slandering  is  at  least 
condemned  by  precept. 

Rev.  Mother  Mary  Francis  Clare  —  A    Welcome  to  Nottingham  — 
Great  Demonstrations  —  Important  Speeches. 

"  On  Tuesday  evening,  in  the  large  hall  of  the  Nottingham  Me- 
chanics' Institute,  a  demonstration  of  welcome  to  the  Nun  of  Ken- 
mare,  Sister  Mary  Francis  Clare,  took  place  on  the  occasion  of  her 
coming  to  Nottingham  to  found,  with  the  approbation  of  his  Holi- 
ness the  Pope,  a  new  Order  of  Peace,  for  the  training  of  servants 
and  the  teaching  of  school  children,  and  to  establish  a  convalescent 
home,  and  a  home  for  factory  girls.  The  Lord  Bishop  of  Notting- 
ham, Right  Rev.  Dr.  Bagshawe,  presided,  supported  by  Very  Rev. 
Canons  Monaghan  and  Douglass,  Very  Rev.  Father  Richmond 
(President  of  Ratcliffe  College),  and  Rev.  Fathers  Baigent,  Garvey, 
Burns,  Palmer,  Hogan,  Elkins,  H.  Sabela,  P.  Sabela,  Opbroeck, 
Golden,  McDonald,  Fryer,  Hawkins,  O'Callaghan  (Manchester). 

Canon  Monaghan,  who  was  received  with  applause,  read  the 
following,  — 

Address  to  the  Reverend  Mother  Mary  Francis  Clare. 

"  HONORED  SISTER  IN  CHRIST, — We,  the  undersigned,  on  behalf 
of  a  public  meeting  of  the  Catholics  of  Nottingham,  assembled  in 
the  large  hall  of  the  Mechanics'  Institute,  beg  leave  to  present  to 
you  an  address  of  welcome  to  our  town. 

"  We  have  heard  that  you  have  lately  been  authorized,  with  the 
sanction  and  blessing  of  our  Holy  Father,  Pope  Leo  XIII,  to  ex- 
change the  mode  of  life  which  you  have  hitherto  led  in  holy  re- 


545 

ligion,  for  the  yet  more  excellent  and  glorious  work  of  co-operating 
in  the  foundation  of  a  new  religious  order,  greatly  needed  in  the 
present  time.  We  learn  with  pleasure  that,  with  that  high  sanction 
and  blessing,  you  have  again  consecrated  your  life  to  God,  in  that 
new  order,  that  you  may  there  gather  together  and  train  in  the 
spiritual  life  a  multitude  of  religious  children,  of  whom  you  have 
now  the  charge,  and  whom  God  will  give  you. 

The  remainder  of  this  address  is  too  long  to  insert  here. 
It  consists  principally  of  references  to  work  done  in 
Ireland  by  the  Nun  of  Kenmare,  in  the  famine,  to  her  lit- 
erary work,  and  to  the  many  approbations  which  she  has 
received  from  the  Holy  See.  By  a  happy  coincidence, 
a  priest  happened  to  be  passing  through  Nottingham 
who  had  been  an  eyewitness  of  the  work  done  by  the 
Nun  of  Kenmare  in  the  famine.  He  gave  his  personal 
recollections  on  this  subject. 

Canon  Monaghan  said,  — 

"  In  the  sacred  name  of  truth,  then,  let  it  go  forth,  as  far  as 
the  wing  of  the  press  may  carry  it,  that  the  Nun  of  Kenmare  is  in 
England  to-day,  not  by  any  act  of  her  own  will,  but  as  the  victim 
of  that  blind  prejudice  which  sees  in  the  noble-hearted  denuncia- 
tion of  wrong,  only  unwomanly  boldness,  and  which  would  make 
of  patriotism  a  crime.  Yes;  the  Nun  of  Kenmare  is  an  involun- 
tary exile  from  the  land  of  her  birth,  and,  therefore,  more  espe- 
cially is  it  that  the  Irishmen  of  Nottingham  will  gather  round  her, 
to  sustain  one  who  has  shed  lustre  on  the  convent  forever  asso- 
ciated with  her  name,  and  on  the  genius  of  Ireland.  It  often  hap- 
pens in  the  history  of  those  who  are  called  by  God  to  do  a  special 
work  for  the  church,  and  in  a  still  more  special  manner  to  work 
for  the  poor,  that  they  are  misunderstood  even  by  good  people. 
This  has  been  the  case  in  a  peculiar  manner  with  Sister  Mary 
Francis  Clare. 

"  But  if  it  is  a  crime  in  her  to  have  written  strongly  for  the 
poor,  to  have  collected  thousands  of  pounds  to  save  them  from 
starvation,  to  have  prevented  the  commission  of  outrages  on  life 
and  property  by  giving  employment  to  men  who  were  starving,  — 
such  a  crime  is  one  for  which,  if  the  world  condemns  her,  she  is 
prepared  to  wait  for  the  approval  of  her  God  at  the  last  great  day. 

"One  thing  at  least  is  certain,  if  Sister  M.  F.  Clare  told  what 
she  knew  of  the  state  of  Ireland,  she  did  it  in  direct  obedience  to 
ecclesiastical  authority ;  and  if  she  labored  long  and  earnestly  for 
the  temporal  good  of  the  poor  in  Ireland,  she  did  it  as  the  spouse 
of  Christ.  Even  had  she  acted  unwisely  and  imprudently  in  carry- 
ing out  this  great  end,  her  object  and  her  cause  might  have  gained 


APPENDIX. 


her  pardon.  The  Nun  of  Kenmare  has  been  accused  of  coming 
before  the  public,  of  making  herself  conspicuous,  of  not  remaining 
in  the  seclusion  of  the  cloister,  and  on  her  behalf  I  would  by  all 
means  plead  guilty  to  it.  God  has  called  her  to  be  a  light  to  the 
Irish  nation,  a  bright  beacon  light  bringing  knowledge  and  love  of 
virtue  to  Irish  homes,  and  teaching,  in  lessons  that  will  never  be 
forgotten,  the  children  of  Erin  how  to  serve  God  and  love  their 
country.  This  accusation  comes  with  singular  inappropriateness 
from  Catholics,  since  we  know  that  Pius  IX.  devoted  his  pen  to 
record  words  of  unsparing  praise  on  his  beloved  daughter  in 
Christ ;  thus  helping  directly  to  bring  into  greater  publicity  and 
prominence,  the  eminent  services  conferred  upon  the  world  by  the 
brilliancy  of  her  genius,  and  her  zeal  for  the.  interests  of  religion." 

The  Rev.  Father  Garvey  said,  —   t 

"  I  shall  confine  myself,  then,  to  what  comes  within  my  own 
knowledge  of  the  living  and  active  charity  of  the  good  Nun  of 
Kenmare.  It  is  within  my  recollection  —  the  time  is  not  so  far 
distant,  some  four  or  five  years  ago  —  that  there  was  distress  in 
Ireland.  Sore  distress  it  was,  too.  I  witnessed  it;  I  lived  in  it. 
I  saw  the  poor,  pale,  trembling  children,  with  the  hunger  in  their 
faces,  reclining  on  their  mothers'  arms.  I  saw  the  mothers,  with 
agony  in  their  faces,  fearing  lest  the  little  ones  should  die  a  death 
from  starvation.  I  saw  the  strong  man  made  weak.  I  saw  hun- 
dreds begging  for  bread,  and  during  the  whole  of  this  time  the 
government  was  sending  a  commission  of  inquiry  from  one  end  of 
the  country  to  the  other,  to  find  out  if  there  was  any  distress  in 
Ireland.  Meantime,  the  people  had  plenty  of  time  to  die  and 
starve ;  but  there  was  one  charitable  heart  living  and  active,  ever 
thoughtful  of  the  wants  of  her  own  people;  and  that  was  the  kind, 
charitable,  self-sacrificing,  highly  accomplished,  noble,  gifted  lady 
—  Sister  Mary  Francis  Clare. 

"  It  is  within  my  own  knowledge  that  within  ten  miles  of  where 
I  live,  when  at  home  in  old  Ireland,  that  Sister  Mary  Francis 
Clare,  when  the  cry  of  distress  went  up  from  that  quarter,  sent 
nearly  £2,000  to  relieve  the  wants  of  the  suffering  poor.  I  shall  not 
speak  of  anything  beyond  what  I  know  personally.  I  remember 
another  occasion  when  one  of  those  grand  storms  that  sweep  our 
coasts  occasionally,  came,  bringing  with  it  destruction  to  the  boats 
of  the  poor  fishermen.  It  was  a  terrible  storm,  and  the  boats  were 
made  simply  into  matchwood.  The  appeal  was  made  to  her,  — 
her  funds  seemed  inexhaustible  ;  and  immediately  she  sent  in  all, 
I  believe,  £250  —  however,  she  got  it  from  Providence." 

Bishop  Bagshawe  made  a  very  long  and  eloquent 
address,  from  which  we  give  only  a  brief  extract,  — 

"  I  think  it  right  that  it  should   be  shown  to  the  Irish  race 

* 


APPENDIX. 


throughout  the  world,  lhat  Mother  Mary  Francis  Clare's  immense 
services  to  this  religion  and  this  country,  are  duly  appreciated  by 
their  fellow-Catholics  of  Nottingham,  in  the  new  sphere  of  labor 
to  which  she  has  been  called,  and  I  think  the  Catholics  of  Not- 
tingham are  privileged,  in  that  they  should  thus  become  the 
mouthpiece  to  express  the  admiration  and  the  gratitude  which  is 
felt  for  her,  I  may  say,  without  any  exaggeration,  by  millions  of 
their  fellow-Catholics.  Their  words  will  be  echoed  in  England, 
Ireland,  America,  and  Australia,  and  they  will  be  thanked  for 
having  uttered  them.  Mother  Mary  Francis  Clare's  claims  to 
this  admiration  and  gratitude  are  altogether  exceptional,  and,  I 
may  say,  unique  in  modern  times,  as  well  as  being  of  an  intrinsic 
magnitude,  which  it  is  difficult  adequately  to  appreciate. 

"  I  think  that  her  writings  are  almost  a  literature  in  themselves, 
that  she  has  written  as  many  as  fifty  different  works  for  the  pro- 
motion of  religion,  and  for  the  preservation  and  illustration  of  the 
history  of  her  country,  and  that  copies  of  them  to  the  number  of 
350,000  have  been  circulated  all  over  the  world.  I  am  astounded 
at  the  magnitude  of  her  labors,  and  the  greatness  of  her  literary 
success,  and  I  feel  myself  wholly  unable  to  estimate  or  imagine  the 
vastness  of  the  work  for  God  and  religion  which  she  has  thus 
accomplished." 

"  Mother  M.  F.  Clare  distributed  eighteen  thousand  pounds  to 
convents,  priests,  Protestant  clergymen  and  others,  and  thereby 
saved  innumerable  lives.  Besides  these  merits,  the  money  received 
for  her  books,  and  collected  by  her,  were  the  main  support  of  the 
Convent  of  Kenmare,  and  enabled  them  to  feed  and  help  hundreds 
of  children  in  their  schools.  Two  things,  however,  may  possibly 
be  said  on  the  other  side  —  one,  that  these  great  works  were  out 
of  the  sphere  of  her  vocation,  and  unsuitable  to  a  nun's  life,  and 
the  other,  that  the  reverend  mother  has  sometimes  written  and  said 
what  she  ought  not  to  have  done.  The  reverend  mother  in  no  way 
transgressed  her  rule,  either  in  her  literary  labors  or  in  her  work 
for  the  poor.  On  the  contrary,  she  only  carried  out  the  strict  com- 
mands of  her  superiors,  Bishops  Moriarty  and  McCarthy. 

"  As  regards  the  second,  I  would  simply  say  that  if  she  has  oc- 
casionally erred  by  unnecessary  vehemence  in  argument,  that 
would  be  no  ground  whatever  for  refusing  to  recognize  her  trans- 
cendent merits.  During  the  famine  of  1879,  Sister  Mary  Francis 
Clare  was  visited  by  many  persons,  who,  from  various  motives, 
came  to  inquire  into  the  real  state  of  Ireland,  and  personal  in- 
quiries, if  carefully  made,  has  invariably  proved  that  the  distressed 
state  of  the  country  was  no  exaggeration  —  the  cause  was  but  too 
apparent.  Amongst  those  who  visited  the  Nun  of  Kenmare  were 
Mr.  Charles  Russell  [now  Sir  Charles  Russell],  a  name  well  known 
amongst  you  all,  and  a  deputation  of  Protestant  gentlemen  from 
Newcastle-on-Tyne.  Mr.  Russell  wrote  some  very  severe  criticisms 
of  a  certain  great  estate.  The  Protestant  gentlemen  wrote,  if  pos- 
sible, still  more  severely.  If  Mr.  Russell  was  credited  with  having 


548 


APPENDIX. 


a  political  mission,  these  gentlemen  from  Newcastle,  who  are  well 
known,  had  no  other  object,  whatever,  but  pure  philanthropy. 
Both  parties  went  to  Sister  Mary  Francis  Clare  for  information  ; 
to  both  she  said,  '  Go  and  see  for  yourselves.'  Her  work  in  sav- 
ing the  people  from  actual  starvation  was  well  known,  and  the 
people  spoke  of  it  fully  and  freely  and  gratefully." 

Canon  Douglas,  who  waited  on  Sister  M.  F.  Clare, 
with  the  deputation  from  the  meeting,  read  her  reply  to 
the  address.  Canon  Douglas  proceeded,  — 

"  I  do  not  like  to  hear  people  daring  to  criticise  the  work  of 
such  a  noble  religious  as  Sister  Mary  Francis  Clare.  There  are 
people  who,  when  there  was  a  cry  of  famine  in  Ireland,  gave  their 
five  shillings  or  ten  shillings  in  the  Offertory,  and  thought  that 
they  had  given  the  utmost  that  they  could  be  expected  to  give  to 
relieve  a  starving  people.  Sister  Mary  Francis  Clare  sent  forth  a 
cry  throughout  the  world.  It  tried  one's  feelings  to  listen  to  that 
kind  of  people.  I  am  not  going  to  apologize  for  her.  I  wish  to 
join  in  welcoming  her  to  Nottingham." 


PART  VIII. 

WORKS    BY   THE    NUN    OF    KENMARE,    REVIEWS    AND 
NOTICES. 

[From  the  Ulster  Weekly  Examiner  and  Review.] 

"  LIFE  OF  DR.  DIXON,  late   Primate  of  all  Ireland,"  and  other 
Works.     By  Sister  M.  F.  CLARE. 

We  repeat, —  Many  a  heart  will  be  gladdened  by  the  announce- 
ment of  a  life  of  the  late  Dr.  Dixon  by  the  justly  celebrated  Nun 
of  Kenmare. 

From  his  high  position  in  Maynooth  College,  his  eminent  talents 
and  great  meekness,  as  well  as  from  his  apostolic  sway  in  the  See 
of  St.  Patrick,  Dr.  Dixon  must  have  left  many  a  reverent  admirer, 
many  a  sorrowing  friend,  behind  him.  And  hence,  the  general  and 
very  natural  eagerness  of  bishop,  priest,  and  people  to  have  him 
sketched  to  life  by  the  vigorous  mind  and  kindly  heart  of  Sister 
Clare.  This  will  be  but  an  additional  recognition  of  the  many  obli- 
gations we  already  owe  the  prolific  pen  of  our  great  Irish  nun. 

Honor,  gratitude,  patriotism  alike  demand  our  hearty  approval 
of  and  ready  co-operation  in  the  glorious  labors  so  efficiently  con- 
ducted by  this  noble  nun,  this  true  friend  of  faith  and  native  land. 

We  pray  that  some  brighter  head  and  smoother  hand  may 
speedily  champion  the  cause  of  the  great-souled,  deep-hearted  nun 
in  her  holy,  persevering  struggle  to  spread  national  and  religious 


APPENDIX. 


549 


literature  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  Ireland.  She 
would  seek  out,  enlighten,  and  console  Ireland's  exiles  all  over  the 
globe  —  on  the  Continent,  in  the  great  cities  of  America, along  the 
rolling  prairie,  and  in  the  wooden  homes  of  the  far  West ;  in 
the  huge,  smoky  towns  of  old  Britain,  and  away  among  the  new 
habitations  of  distant  Australia. 

Thanks  to  the  genius  of  this  generous  convent  lady,  light  and 
joy  and  hope  brighten  many  a  home  amid  the  hurry  and  bustle  of 
great  cities,  softly  beam  on  the  hum  and  prattle  of  many  a  village 
and  hamlet,  and  sweetly  smile  over  the  innocent  mirth  and  ready 
gossip  of  modest  hearths,  by  shining  slope,  green  valley,  and 
barren  mountain  side.  She  is  the  glory  and  ornament  of  our  race, 
the  pride  of  old  Ireland,  this  gifted,  zealous  Nun  of  Kenmare. 
Truly  might  the  eloquent  and  high-minded  American,  the  Hon.  W. 
E.  Robinson,  say  of  her,  that  "  One  such  soul  would  save  a  na- 
tion. Inspired  by  a  love  of  God  and  a  pride  of  country,  she  is 
developing  a  pure  national  literature,  and  she  seems  to  think  that 
there  are  two  places  worth  writing  for — Heaven  and  Ireland  — 
and  seems  equally  in  earnest  in  service  of  both.  She  would  make 
all  men  fit  for  heaven  and  worthy  of  Ireland.  Ever  faithful  to 
faith  and  native  land,  she  is  clearing  away  the  mists  from  the 
records  of  her  country,  and  throwing  the  charms  of  literature  and 
love  upon  the  pathway  to  heaven." 

Her  works,  as  most  people  know,  are  very  numerous  and 
varied.  No  writer  in  any  age  or  country  has  produced  within  the 
same  time  so  many  and  such  excellent  works.  They  range  in  many 
a  gradation,  from  her  "  Child's  Month  of  May  "  up  to  her  wonder- 
ful and  magnificent  "  Life  of  St.  Patrick."  Her  style  is  ever  fresh, 
pure,  and  vigorous.  She  displays  rare  tact  and  ready  talent  in  the 
disposal  of  materials,  and  develops  every  subject  with  that  fresh 
vigor  and  consummate  finish  which  ever  characterize  true  genius. 
She  is  humorous,  incisive,  pathetic,  just  as  hertsubject  requires. 
Rich  imagery,  apt  illustration,  deep  thought,  and  sweet  persua- 
sion throw  an  indescribable  charm  along  her  pages.  Love  of 
country  constantly  mingling  with  that  infinitely  deeper  and  holier 
love,  the  charity  of  Christ,  burns  bright  and  warm  within  her  virgin 
breast,  and  so  she  pours  forth  her  glowing  thoughts  in  language  at 
once  strong  and  musical,  loving  and  hopeful.  Her  productions  are 
always  elegant  and  chaste,  often  original,  mostly  eloquent,  and  un- 
ceasingly earnest,  truthful,  and  practical.  No  matter  what  be  your 
taste,  the  far-ranging  labors  of  Sister  Clare's  untiring  pen  will 
surely  gratify  it.  You  have  the  "  History  of  Kingdom  of  Kerry," 
grand  of  scenery,  and  rich  in  historic  memories ;  "  History  of 
Cork,"  with  its  soul-stirring  associations.  Above  all,  her  "  Illus- 
trated History  of  Ireland,"  pronounced  the  very  best  Irish  history 
ever  published.  So  says  the  late  John  Mitchel;  no  mean  judge 
surely.  Of  her  "  Students'  Manual  of  Irish  History,"  the  Civil  Ser- 
vice Gazette  remarks  that  "  She  possesses  the  highest  capacity  for 
works  of  the  kind."  She  has  also  written  a  school  history  of  Ire- 


550 


APPENDIX. 


land,  called  the  "  Patriot's  History."  These  histories,  along  with 
her  large  "  Life  of  St.  Patrick  "  and  the  "  Life  of  O'Connell,"  etc., 
etc.,  are  unquestionably  books  of  wide  range,  deep  research,  very 
stores  of  learning,  arranged  after  the  best  method.  They  bear  the 
genuine  stamp  of  very  high  talent,  and  afford  clear  evidence  of 
long,  patient,  loving  study.  Pius  IX.  says  that  "  she  has  deserved 
well  of  the  whole  Church."  Surely  this  is  the  very  highest  com- 
mendation. What  shall  I  say  of  her  charming  "  Life  of  St.  Ger- 
trude," which  gracefully  unfolds  the  breadth  of  thought  and  depth 
of  feeling  so  peculiar  to  the  genial  children  of  St.  Benedict  ?  What, 
too,  of  the  engaging  picture,  simplicity,  and  poetry  of  "  St.  Francis 
and  the  Franciscans"?  Or  of  the  loving  words,  kindly  instruc- 
tion, and  sweetest  compassion  of  "  Jesus  and  Jerusalem  "  ?  Who 
but  would  linger  long  over  the  pathos  and  eminently  practical 
bearing  of  "  Daily  Steps  to  Heaven  "?  Then  of  her  "  Book  of  the 
Blessed  Ones  "  —  great,  very  great,  is  its  beauty,  power,  and  pre- 
vailing eloquence.  Her  unflagging  hand  and  sleepless  brow  have 
brought  out  the  "  Life  and  Letters  of  O'Connell."  In  her  splendid 
"  Life  and  Times  of  O'Connell,"  of  which  a  new  library  edition  is 
now  issued  in  two  volumes,  in  addition  to  the  great,  glorious,  and 
eventful  career  of  the  crownless  monarch,  there  are  outlined  by 
the  hand  of  genius  the  chief  features  in  the  history  of  Europe  from 
1774  to  the  death  of  O'Connell  in  1847.  Throughout  this  grand 
work  the  reader  may  have  a  good  truthful  gaze  at  her  great  literary 
powers,  her  Christian  spirit,  and  quenchless  patriotism.  Here 
O'Connell  rises  before  you  in  all  the  grand  proportions  of  his 
mighty  frame  and  giant  mind.  "  O'Connell,"  says  Mary  Francis, 
"  threw  his  words  hither  and  thither  like  a  Norse  giant  playing 
with  Scandanavian  rocks.  If  they  hit  hard,  it  was  because  his  aim 
was  true ;  if  the  blows  were  rude,  it  was  because  he  did  not  stop 
to  select  his  missiles  very  carefully."  Along  with  the  beautiful  "  Life 
of  Father  Mathew,"  it  will  ever  prove  a  familiar  guide,  a  trusty 
friend — yea,  a  very  angel  guardian  —  to  numberless  boys  and 
girls  who  must  meet  and  overcome  the  hardships,  the  sorrows,  and 
temptations  that  swarm  over  the  highways  and  bypaths  of  this 
land.  Perhaps  the  very  high  estimate  formed  of  her  books  is  best 
seen  in  the  fact  that  translations  of  most  of  them  are  now  appear- 
ing in  France,  Germany,  and  elsewhere. 

Surely,  then,  we  should  cherish  in  our  inmost  heart  the  name 
and  aims  of  this  lady  of  high  attainments,  of  ardent  affections, 
and  holy  aspirations.  She  has  wholly  consecrated  her  time, 
strength,  and  abilities  to  God  and  the  dear  old  land.  Well  may 
Ireland  and  Irish  men  and  women,  the  world  over,  glory  in  the 
name  of  Sister  Clare,  the  grace  and  ornament  of  our  nation,  the 
gleaming  defender  of  Erin's  ancient  fame  and  grandeur;  the  fore- 
most, truest  historian  of  her  noble,  chivalrous  struggles  in  early 
days;  ?he  sympathizing,  true  and  skilful  painter  of  her  later  trials, 
wrongs,  and  sorrows.  She  will  always  be  regarded  as  the  gentle, 
unyielding  defender  of  her  country's  cause. 


APPENDIX. 


In  the  highest,  dearest,  and  brightest  cluster  of  Ireland's  im- 
mortal names  shall  ever  serenely  shine  this  latest  luminary  of 
Christ-like,  poverty-loving  Francis,  while  her  blessed  labors  shall 
still  enbalm  in  their  hallowing  radiance  the  greatest  and  grandest 
svorks  ever  achieved  for  Ireland's  weal,  or  yet  to  be  achieved  for 
her  future  glory. 

A  speedy  and  prosperous  issue  to  the  high  and  holy  cause  of 
our  religious  and  national  literature,  and  the  Redeemer's  choicest 
blessings  on  Mary  Francis  Clare. 

As  long  as  there  are  hearts  to  feel 
For  Ireland's  woe,  for  Ireland's  weal, 
The  glorious  tribute  of  her  zeal 

Will  wake  the  grateful  prayer. 
Henceforth  be  sung  with  loud  acclaim, 
Be  writ  upon  the  scrolls  of  fame, 
The  last  and  dearest  Irish  name 

Of  Mary  Francis  Clare. 

D.  F.  MC'CARTHY. 
Tpth  November,  1876. 

CONFERENCES  FOR  ECCLESIASTICAL  STUDENTS  AND  RELI- 
GIOUS.—  This  translation  was  undertaken  at  the  request  of  the 
president  of  a  college  for  ecclesiastical  students.  There  are  sev- 
eral works  of  the  kind  in  French,  but  we  believe  the  present 
works  is  the  first  which  has  been  translated  into  English.  We 
offer  it,  with  affectionate  respect,  to  ecclesiastical  students  and  re- 
ligious, with  the  hope  that  it  may  supply  a  want  long  felt,  for 
there  is  no  doubt  that  however  proficient  one  may  be  in  other  lan- 
guages, it  is  always  pleasanter  to  read  a  work  of  devotion  or  reli- 
gious instruction  in  our  own.  The  original  of  the  quotations 
from  the  Fathers  has  been  given,  as  they  will  be  of  interest  to 
students,  and  the  texts  of  Holy  Scripture,  which  were  all  given  in 
the  Vulgate  Latin  in  the  French,  are  given  here  in  the  Douay  ver- 
sion. A  great  difficulty  has,  however,  been  experienced  in  some 
places  where  the  substance  of  a  text  is  incorporated  in  a  sentence 
and  the  exact  words  are  not  given.  In  such  cases  we  have  been 
obliged  to  translate  from  the  French,  instead  of  giving  the  Douay 
text ;  this  arrangement  being  necessary  to  give  the  sense  as  in- 
tended by  the  saintly  author. 

THE  MORNING  SACRIFICE.     Words  by  Rev.  J.  Ryan.     Music  by 
Sister  Mary  Francis  Clare.     Price  2s. 

"Two  lights  for  a  lowly  altar, 
Two  snowy  cloths  for  a  feast." 

"  The  accomplished  Nun  of  Kenmare  gives  us  fresh  cause  to 
admire  not  only  her  industry,  but  her  versatility.  Here  are  three 
more  of  her  latest  additions  to  the  goodly  pile  of  her  Kenmare 


552  APPENDIX. 

publications.  The  composition  "  St.  Agnes'  Eve,"  by  M.  F. 
Cusack,  is  dedicated,  by  special  permission,  to  Sir  A.  Tennyson, 
and  certain  are  we  that  he  has  never  found  outside  the  cloister  a 
more  sympathetic  composer."  —  London  Weekly  Register. 

THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF  POPE  Pius  IX.   Quarto.    Magnificently 
illustrated,  with  a  History  of  the  Italian  Revolution.     305. 

"  The  Nun  of  Kenmare's  new  history  is  in  every  respect  worthy 
of  taking  rank  with  those  she  has  already  written.  The  narrative 
commences  with  the  prophecies  of  Anna  Maria  Taigi,  and  the 
conclusion  of  Part  III.  brings  us  progressively  to  Pope  Pius  the 
Ninth's  flight  from  Rome  in  November,  '48.  Throughout,  the 
work  is  distinguished  by  the  same  excellence  of  style  which  char- 
acterizes all  Miss  Cusack's  literary  endeavors,  and  the  plan  of  the 
history  is  an  admirable  one.  No  better  chronicle  of  Pius  the 
Ninth's  life  and  times  could  be  offered  to  the  public ;  it  ought  to 
have  a  very  wide  circulation.  The  work  bears  the  Imprimatur  of 
the  Most  Rev.  Dr.  Croke,  Archbishop  of  Cashel.  It  may  be  here 
mentioned,  that  Miss  Cusack  has  received  a  special  blessing  from 
His  Holiness  Pope  Leo  XIII.  In  the  year  1870  she  was  granted 
a  similar  great  privilege  by  Pope  Pius  IX." —  Cork  Examiner. 

"  It  has  evidently  been  a  labor  of  love  and  a  labor  of  devotion. 
The  gifted  authoress  has  gathered  her  materials  from  all  direc- 
tions, and  has  moulded  them  into  form  with  the  skill  of  a  prac- 
tised biographer  and  historian.  The  book  is  superbly  got  up. 
As  already  intimated,  it  is  of  a  noble  qua/to  size,  each  page  being 
framed  in  an  ornamental  border,  delicately  traced  with  a  variety 
of  exquisitely  symbolical  devices  and  mottoes  of  an  appropriate 
character.  The  illustrations  are,  many  of  them,  resplendent.  We 
have  seen  enough  of  the  work,  even  now,  upon  our  first  cursory 
examination  of  it,  to  recognize  in  it  another,  and  a  more  than  usu- 
ally notable  achievement  of  the  good,  gifted,  and  laborious  reli- 
gious whose  name  is  loved  and  honored  all  over  the  English- 
speaking  portion  of  the  Catholic  world  in  both  hemispheres 
under  her  three  well-known  titles  as  Miss  Cusack,  as  Sister  Mary 
Francis  Clare,  and  as  the  Nun  of  Kenmare." —  Weekly  Register 
(London). 

His  Eminence  Cardinal  McClosky  writes,  —  "Your  'Life  and 
Times  of  His  Holiness  Pope  Pius  IX.',  maybe  considered  a  mon- 
umental work  for  which  we  must  all  feel  indebted  to  you.  May 
God  preserve  you  long  to  labor  in  the  cause  of  His  Holy  Church 
and  of  His  beloved  poor." 

APPROBATIQN  OF  THE  MOST  REV.  DR.  M'CARTHY,  late  Bishop  oj 
Kerry,  and  President  of  Maynooth  College,  —  "I  am  delighted  to 
learn  that  your  next  work  —  the  'Life  of  our  Blessed  Lady,'  —  is 
already  far  advanced.  As  there  is  no  good  English  book  on  this 


APPENDIX. 


553 


great  subject,  your  pious  zeal  will  supply  a  pressing  want  for 
English  readers.  The  labor  is  above  your  strength,  but  you  are 
ready,  I  am  sure,  to  make  any  sacrifice  to  promote  devotion  to 
the  Mother  of  God." 

NED  KUSHEEN.     Price,  y,.  6d. 

TIM  O'HALLORAN'S  CHOICE.    Price,  2s.  6d. 

"This  is  a  story  of  real  life,  and  is  in  the  usual  attractive  style 
of  the  celebrated  nun's  work.  Mick  McGrath's  letter  describing 
his  voyage  to  America  is  worth  the  price  of  the  whole  book."  — 
Catholic  Review. 

"  This  little  story  gives  a  strong  picture  of  the  heroic  faith,  suf- 
ferings and  native  humor  of  the  Irish  poor.  We  commend  the 
story,  for  it  is  written  by  one  who  seeks  God's  glory  and  the  sal- 
vation of  souls  in  all  she  writes."  —  Ave  Maria, 

THE  LIFE  OF  FATHER  MATHEW.     Uniform  with  "  Advice  to 
Girls."    Beautifully  illustrated,     as.  6d. 

"  The  gifted  pen  of  our  devoted  '  Nun  of  Kenmare  records  her 
aspirations  that  our  cause  may  be  blessed.  Surely  such  advocacy 
would  sanctify  any  cause."  —  Catholic  Total  Abstinence  Union 
(New  York). 

WOMAN'S  WORK  IN  MODERN   SOCIETY.     New  cheap  Edition. 
45.  6d. 

"  In  all  fhat  concerns  the  great  question  of  education,  training, 
and  study,  Miss  Cusack's  work  will  furnish  many  useful  hints  to 
its  readers.  Almost  every  one  of  the  numerous  chapters  would 
have  afforded  matter  for  a  book  as  large  as  the  whole  series,  and 
we  have  no  doubt  Miss  Cusack  could  have  written  it."  —  The 
Month. 

"  A  narrow  cell  extends  its  cry  to  the  limits  of  the  civilized 
world,  and  the  world  is  instructed  by  the  'inexperiences'  of  the 
cloister. "  —  M.  Veuillot,  Univers. 

THE    SPOUSE   OF   CHRIST;    Her    Duties    and    her   Privileges. 

Vols.r,2,  and  3. 

"  This  is  another  work  by  the  indefatigable  Nun  of  Kenmare, 
and  shows  her-  to  be  no  less  a  proficient  in  ascetic  science  than 
she  is  in  archaeology  and  history.  Every  page  is  full  of  thought, 
showing  wide  reading  and  practical  knowledge  of  the  spirit  of 
religious  life." — Catholic  Opinion  [London]. 


5  54  APPENDIX. 

"  There  is  hardly  anything  in  this  volume  which  may  not  be 
read  with  benefit  by  seculars.  One  of  the  special  characteristics 
of  the  work  is  the  practical  common  sense  by  which  it  is  distin- 
guished. Fervent  and  earnest  as  she  is,  and  thoroughly  appre- 
ciating the  blessings  of  the  life  she  has  chosen,  she  does  not 
attempt  to  conceal  from  herself  or  others  its  trials  and  difficulties. 
We  cannot  bring  to  a  close  this  admirable  addition  to  the  Ken- 
mare  publications,  without  citing  a  few  passages  which  are  as 
beautiful  in  thought  as  they  are  in  expression."  —  The  Tablet. 
[London], 


KENMARE    PUBLICATIONS. 

THE  LIFE  OF  ST.  PATRICK,  APOSTLE  OF  IRELAND;  Demy  8vo., 

360  pp.,  6s. 

Also, 
A  magnificently  Illustrated  Edition  of  the  above,  richly  gilt  edges 

and  sides,  &c.,  los. 

THE  LIFE  OF  ST.  COLUMBA  AND  ST.  BRIDGET. 

THE  LIFE  OF  His  GRACE  THE  MOST  REV.  JOSEPH  DIXON, 
late  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  and  Primate  of  all  Ireland.  Crown 
8vo.,  ys.  6d. 

THE  LIFE  OF  ST.  FRANCIS  OF  ASSISI,  St.  Clare,  St.  Colette,  and 
the  Poor  Clares. 

THE  LIFE  AND  REVELATIONS  OF  ST.  GERTRUDE;  the  Spirit  of 
St.  Gertrude. 

A  NUN'S  ADVICE  TO  HER  GIRLS.  12  mo.  2s.  6d.  Fifth  Thous- 
and. This  little  book  is  the  first  of  a  series  which  has  already 
obtained  an  immense  circulation,  especially  in  the  United  States, 
where  it  has  gone  through  20  editions. 

"  It  is  a  charming  book  ;  its  advice  is  excellent,  thoroughly 
practical,  and  conveyed  in  so  attractive  a  manner  that  it  will  be 
read,  as  it  has  been  read  with  pleasure  by  the  girls  to  whom  it  is 
addressed.  We  are  glad  to  see  how  much  interest  is  shown  in 
it  for  Catholic  servant  girls,,  and  we  hope  that  it  will  be  largely 
distributed  amongst  them,  and  read  by  them.  " 

LE  PELERINAGE  CELESTE,  par  Marie  Francoise  Clare,  auteur  de 
plusieurs  ouvrages  religieux  et  historiques.  Traduit  de  1'Anglais 
par  1'Abbe  Ouin  La  Croix,  Chanoine  Honoraire  de  Saint  Denis, 
Chevalier  de  la  Legion  d'Honneur,  avec  une  Preface  de 
M  1'Abbe  Maigne,  Docteur  en  Theologie.  Paris  :  O.  de  La 
Tonche,  1875. 


APPENDIX.  555 

"Ce  qui  m'a  vivement  frappe,  dans  '  Le  Pelerinage  Celeste,'  ce 
qui  j'ai  grandement  admire,  c'est  la  simplicite,  la  lucidite  d'  esprit 
et  d'expression  de  1'auteur  ....  La  clarte  est  meme  quelquefois 
si  grande  qu'on  croirait  a  une  verite  nouvelle,  quoiqu'il  s'agisse 
d'une  verite  veille  comme  le  monde,  .  .  .  Elle  m'a  fait  beaucoup  de 
bien;  puisse-t-elle  vous  en  faire  beaucoup  aussi,  chers  lecteurs." 
—  Prtfare  de  M.  PAbbe  Maigne,  p.  viii. 

Approbation  de  Mgr.  UArcheveque  de  Rennes. 

"  RF.NNES,  le  4 /«/'«,  1875. 

"CHER  ET  DIGNE  ABBE, —  Votre  'Pelerinage'  est  excellent,  et 
je  ne  fais  point  de  difficulte  de  la  preferer  a  tous  ceux  qui  de  nos 
jours  excitant  d'une  maniere  si  edifiante  la  piete  des  fideles. 

"fcGODEFROY,  Archeveque  de  Rennes." 

Approbation  de  Mgr.  Maret,  Eveque  de  Sura. 

"  J'ai  lu  avec  attention  le  volume  que  vous  avez  bien  voulu  me 
fair.e  remettre  :  'Le  Pelerinage  Celeste.'  Get  ouvrage  est  digne 
de  grand  eloge.  La  doctrine  en  est  forte  et  sure  :  elle  est  presen- 
tee avec  ordre  et  eloquence.  La  traduction  de  M.  1'Abbe  Ouin  La 
Croix  ne  depare  pas  1'ceuvre  de  la  venerable  Marie  Francoise 
Clare.  Je  forme  le  vceu  que  ce  livre  pieux  et  substantiel  obtienne 
en  France  le  meme  succes  qu'il  a  merite  en  Angleterre. 

"  Agreez,  Monsieur  le  Chanoine,  mes  sentiments  de  parfaite 
consideration.  Le  Primicier  de  Saint-Denis. 

"  H.  I,C.,  Eveque  de  Sura." 

Approbation  'de  Mgr.  L1  Eveque  de  Nevers. 

"  NEVERS,  le  27  Novembre,  1875. 

"  L'auteur  de  ce  pieux  opuscule,  est  une  humble  religieuse 
clarisse,  renfermee  derriere  les  grilles  d'un  monastere  d'  Irlande. 
Que  Ton  ne  s'imagine  pas  qu'une  pauvre  fille  du  cloitre,  vouee  a  la 
vie  contemplative,  soit  peu  apte  a  diriger  les  hommes,  ses  freres  a 
travers  les  sentiers  divers  de  la  vie  active  1  Dans  la  solitude  1'ceil 
est  pur  et  eclaire ;  il  connait  et  discerne  mieux  les  besoins  des 
ames  et  les  remedes  qui  leur  cohviennent.  N'est-ce  pasdu  cloitre 
qu'est  sorti  ce  guide  merveilleux,  'L'Imitation  de  Jesus  Christ,'  ou 
chacun  trouve  les  regies  et  les  avis  le  mieux  appropries  a  sa  situ- 
ation ?  Le  Hvre  de  la  religieuse  irlandaise  est  de  la  famille  de 
'L  'Imitation,'  on  y  trouve  la  meme  simplicite  droite  et  ferme,  la 
meme  doctrine  spirituelle,  sans  exageration  et  sans  faiblesse, 
la  meme  onction  de  piete  et,  chose  plus  singuliere,  la  meme 
connaissance  intime  des  besoins  des  ames.  II  n'y  a  pas  de 
personne  a  qui  ce  livre  ne  convienne  et  ne  puisse  faire  beaucoup 
desirerions  seulement  qu'il  futfait  uneautre  edition  en  format  plus 
portatif,  de  maniere  que  Ton  pfit  le  porter  et  toujours  1'avoir  avec 
soi  comme  un  vrai  Vade  mecum. 

.  CAS.,  Eveque  de  Nevers." 


556  APPENDIX. 

All  the  works  for  children  have  been  translated  into  French 
by  M.  la  Vicomtesse  de  Saint  Seine. 

A  number  of  other  Kenmare  Publications  in  the  Press,  in 
French,  Italian,  and  German. 

THE  PILGRIM'S  WAY  TO  HEAVEN.  Uniform  with  "Jesus  and 
Jerusalem  ;  "  being  the  third  volume  of  the  Series  for  Reading. 
4$.  6d.  Fourth  Edition. 

JESUS  AND  JERUSALEM,  or,  The  Way  home.  45.  6d.  Fifth  Edi- 
tion. 

THE  BOOK  OF  THE  BLESSED  ONES.  The  fourth  volume  of  the 
Series  of  Books  for  Spiritual  Reading.  45.  6d.  Third  Edition. 
"To  no  production  of  the  pen  of  the  gifted  '  Nun  of  Kenmare ' 

can  any  reception  be  awarded,  but  the  most  cordial  and  sincere. 

Her  writings  possess  in  a  marked  degree -that  irrepressible  charm 

which   makes    itself  felt    rather    than    seen." —  Weekly  Register. 

( London.) 

A  NUN'S  ADVICE  TO  HER  GLRLS.  i2mo.  23.  6d.  Fifth  Thou- 
sand. Second  volume.  This  little  book  is  the  second  of  a 
series  which  has  already  obtained  an  immense  circulation, 
especially  in  the  United  States,  where  it  has  gone  through 
many  editions. 

"  The  nun  who  gives  this  book  of  excellent  counsels  to  the  pupils 
of  her  convent  school,  is  the  Nun  of  Kenmare,  whose  name  has 
indeed  become  a  household  word.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  the 
advice  she  gives  to  the  good  Irish  girls  at  home  and  abroad  is  the 
very  best  and  wisest,  and  conveyed  in  a  very  agreeable  and  for- 
cible manner,  We  may  add  that  we  are  pleased  not  only  with  what 
is  said,  but  with  what  is  left  unsaid.  Certain  warnings  that  are 
often  given  in  books  of  a  somewhat  similar  aim,  are  here  more 
wisely  left  entirely  to  sad  experience,  and  God's  grace  acting 
through  various  appointed  ministries.  No  wonder  that  this  book, 
or  one  substantially  the  same  as  the  present,  has  already  had  a 
wide  circulation  amongst  our  countrymen  at  the  other  side  of  the 
Atlantic." —  The  Irish  Monthly.  ' 

THE  ILLUSTRATED  HISTORY  OF  IRELAND.  Large  quarto,  mag- 
nificently illustrated. 

THE  STUDENTS'  HISTORY  OF  IRELAND.  Longmans'  Students 
Series. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  COUNTY  KERRY  with  the  Flora,  Fauna, 
and  geological  survey  of  the  county. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  COUNTY  CORK  with  the  Flora,  Fauna, 
and  geological  survey  of  the  county. 


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